


Brighter

by y8ay8a



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Canon, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Drama & Romance, F/F, Heavy Angst, Self-Discovery, Shameless Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-02-11 06:39:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 132,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12929652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/y8ay8a/pseuds/y8ay8a
Summary: It took that three day mission away from Beacon Academy, but if Yang looked back on the last months, their relationship was probably bound to change sooner or later. - Bumbleby smut /w heavy angst in later chapters. Is set to start in between V2 and V3, follows along V3.Story was originally posted on ff.net, re-uploading it here as I'm revising the chapters.





	1. Chapter 1

Blake cursed under her breath; rarely in her life had she felt so useless. In fact,  _never_  since she'd been a child had she felt so useless. Her youth had been brimming with rigorous training on the White Fang's part and even back then could she best adult soldiers without much strain. She had always been capable and had always pulled her weight and yet in this instant she watched her partner's back as the blonde heaved deeply, taking another hit to protect her.

"Yang, we have to run, you can't keep this up!" Blake pleaded.

"We push forward," she growled her retort, her voice almost drowned out by the deafening sound of shotgun rounds and the roaring of the Ursa. "If we lose any ground, we really won't make it to the city before nightfall!"

Blake bit back words of protest and helped her teammate as she could – firing gambol shroud and using its lash to help protect her partner's back, mentally cursing the foreign device beeping on her wrist.

_-Twelve hours earlier-_

" _The details of this mission are minimal. We drop you off in remote locations at random; you make your way back to a designated rendezvous point. You will then be transported back to the academy," Glynda explained as the lined up students all took their turn picking a thin bangle from the tray next to her. "Simple enough, isn't it?"_

_Once the bracelet was secured around her wrist, it lit up with a green light. Blake looked to her partner's and frowned seeing Yang's had an orange light._

" _This bracelet is called an ESD, it stands for Energy Silencing Device. It's designed to suppress both the projection of your aura and your semblance," the blonde teacher continued. "It has been programmed to bond with your partner's, so only one of them is active at a time. During this three day mission, you will each have thirty-six hours of downtime and thirty-six hours of active time, at random." As she explained this, a detailed image of the device they all had secured around their wrist appeared behind her. "The green light signals you're in possession of your full combat abilities, the orange light signals your semblance is suppressed, as well as your ability to project aura."_

" _Basically, I'm now a ball and chain on you," Yang muttered, seemingly quite unhappy about it._

" _I will be yours later," Blake casually offered in exchange._

" _The ESD also reads your vital signs as well as having a built-in tracking system. In case of an emergency, the mission will be aborted, we will rescue you," the teacher continued. "You can also send out an emergency signal by activating this switch at the bottom, and holding down both buttons there," she explained as she made the projected image of the device rotate behind her. "This mission has two objectives; for you to learn to be resourceful, stop relying so much on your aura and semblance, and also for you to learn to care for a dependent party. As Huntsmen and Huntresses, a lot of you will regularly be taking on missions where you will have to escort or protect a third party. Any questions?"  
_

Blake gritted her teeth; they hadn't encountered much opposition on her own active shift and had been able to progress a lot. They had nearly reached a small village, which would have ensured they wouldn't have to camp out. Not that the faunus minded sleeping under the stars, no, her preference for the safety of a room was solely based on the fact that camping out would have to mean the one on active duty would have to stand watch for Grimm while the other slept. Being forced to do so would considerably slow them down on the following day compared to both of them getting proper rest at an inn.  
Yet as the day had slowly darkened into a beautiful pink and purple evening, the light on her bracer had turned orange, and it had seemed that suddenly all the Grimm in their vicinity had woken up.

Yang had been single-handedly taking them down for almost three hours now, not only trying to make way for them to press forward, but also taking hits on Blake's behalf since no aura meant Blake was currently highly vulnerable to damage.

"Yang, please!" She implored again.

"No!" The fiery blonde barked, exhaustion and pain obviously taking its toll on her. "The town's lights are in sight Blake! We'll make it."

And they did make it. But as they made their way down the main street of this small village, the brawler was leaning so heavily on her partner that the dark haired faunus was practically dragging her. Thankfully, the only inn was not a very long walk from the village's outskirts, and Blake was all too relieved for the warmth of this safe haven. She pulled Yang to the reception desk and requested a room.

"We do have one left, but it only has one single bed," the young woman behind the counter stated apologetically.

"We'll take it," Blake didn't even hesitate, resolved for her partner to get some proper rest after the evening she pulled them through. Yang wasn't in any capacity to give her opinion anyways; barely still standing thanks to her arm around Blake's shoulders, she was struggling to keep her eyes open.

Blake dragged her up the stairs and laid her in bed before locking the door. Looking at her dirty and battered partner lying barely conscious pulled at her heart, and she felt the overwhelming urge to tend to her.

She took off her friend's boots, belts, weapon, stripping her down to her yellow tube top and black shorts before getting some warm water and a towel. Wiping down some of the grime, sweat and blood from her let Blake see that the blonde had looked much worse off than she actually was. Her aura had healed most of the scratches and bruises by then, and it seemed she had a bit of energy again to maintain consciousness as Yang finally started to come to.

"Where are we?" She muttered, trying to sit up.

"Inn room," Blake carefully put a hand on her shoulder, making her lie again. "We're safe, you can rest."

"Oh…" Yang let herself be pushed down, settling on her back and remaining still as Blake resumed her self-appointed task.

She was surprised that her friend allowed herself be pampered this way, but the dark haired faunus was tremendously glad she did. The brawler had pulled them through an impressive swarm of Grimm, and after all the hits she took to protect her, it was the least she could do, right? Blake wrung the excess water off the towel again as she'd rinsed it and gently wiped filth sticking to her partner's skin. She refused to linger on how much she was enjoying doing this for her.

"I told you we'd make it fine," Yang broke the silence with her boast, flashing a weary but annoyingly smug smile.

"You did," the faunus conceded, smiling back in spite of herself. She maintained her gaze for a second before she looked her over, evaluating her work. There was nothing more she could do short of bathing her, so Blake discarded the now dirty wet towel and moved on to taking care of herself. She felt her partner's eyes still on her as she removed her own boots and was slowly taking off her bow, sleeve, along with everything else that would be too uncomfortable to sleep in. Left in her white shorts and white crop-top, she glanced at her partner as she quickly wiped herself down too. "Are you hungry?"

"Nah, I'll be good until the morning," Yang answered, stifling a yawn. "Thanks anyways."

"…It's the least I can do," Blake quietly said, settling on the floor next to the bed. "Thanks for getting us to safety."

With a frown, the blonde sat up again. She looked around to finally take notice that the room held only one bed. "Blake what-"

"It's all they had left," she cut in. "Rest up." She made herself comfortable as she could.

"You're not sleeping on the floor." The tone of her voice offered no compromise.

"I'll be fine, it wouldn't be the first time," Blake sighed, not opening her eyes. At least not until she felt herself being lifted off the ground as if she had weighed nothing and unceremoniously dropped onto the mattress. She put aside her renewed amazement for her partner's strength and stood right back up. "Yang, you need proper rest!"

"So do you. Chances are you'll be in charge of both of us tomorrow," the blonde pointed out as she motioned to the still green-lit bracelet on her own wrist. She then dropped to the wooden floor, apparently making herself comfortable where Blake had been lying a second ago.

"We're not going to fight about this," Blake grumbled, pulling on the brawler's arm in an unsuccessful attempt to get her up again; Yang was surprisingly heavy.

"We're not," Yang agreed, her amethyst orbs snapping up to lock onto the golden ones. "I take the floor or we share the bed."

"The bed is small."

"It's not like we can't both fit."

"It'll be cramped."

"You think I care?" Yang argued. She paused and her expression softened slightly. "…Unless you do? I mean, I know I'm probably smelly after the day we had, I can go take a shower if it's really  _that_  bad. I was going to wait until the morning 'cause I'm tired and you did a good job of cleaning me up, but it's not like I'm dying or anything. I can go."

"You smell fine, that's not the issue," Blake stubbornly pulled on her arm again.

"Then what  _is_  the issue?" The blonde stopped resisting her partner's tugging and got up, her eyes still on her friend's. "Do you have a problem with sharing a bed?"

The faunus held her gaze a moment before sighing. The actual issue was not one she could even  _brush_. "You're sure it doesn't bother you?"

"Why would it?" Yang grinned, climbing back into bed. "Close the light and get your ass in here with me."

Blake rolled her eyes, but did as told. In the darkness she walked back to the bed, hesitating only a second before getting under the covers. She lied on the very edge of the bed and her back to her partner in an attempt to respect her space, to somehow not lean against her. However it was only a second before she felt strong arms pull her closer to the center of the mattress and an oh-so warm body pressed against her back. Her breath caught in her throat.

"See?" Yang laughed quietly, seemingly oblivious to her partner tensing up. "Plenty of space for both of us if we snuggle up just a bit," she whispered.

Blake could feel the other woman's breath on her naked shoulder as she spoke, felt enveloped in the blonde's scent, and she tried  _so hard_  to keep her cool. "Just… sleep, Yang."

"Good night to you too," the blonde playfully answered, resting her head against her back.

It took barely a minute for the midnight haired faunus to hear her partner's faint snoring. She wasn't very surprised, Yang had been exhausted after all. Letting out a sigh, Blake allowed herself to slowly relax in her friend's arms. She certainly did not expected to  _ever_ find herself in this position and, granted, she wasn't falling asleep in the blonde bombshell's embrace under the circumstances she'd guiltily have to admit fantasizing about, but she thanked whatever force was out there for this small blessing.

Her hand found the larger limply hanging over her stomach as her partner's arm was resting on her waist and Blake pulled it gently to her in a hug, very careful not to disturb the sleeper. She entwined her own with the brawler's lightly callused fingers, holding her hand tightly against her heart, feeling fatigue finally taking over.

* * *

Yang woke up to the incredible brightness of the sunlight pouring in. She squint her eyes, blinking a few times, making sense again of where she was.

Right; the inn.

Gentle twitches of a cat ear against her cheek made her aware of her partner still curled up in her arms, apparently not entirely asleep but certainly not awake either. She rested her blonde head of hair on the pillow again, half leaning it against the faunus's head. If Blake had decided to laze a bit, Yang gladly would take advantage of the extra rest time. They had already gone two thirds of the way to the rendezvous point in less than twenty four hours; with over forty-eight hours left, they could certainly afford to take it slow.

She closed her eyes again, expecting to drift back to dreamland in a matter of minutes, but after staying motionless for what Yang deemed to be at least half an hour, she found she couldn't fall back to sleep. An odd restlessness was taking hold of her, and she wondered why today of all days, when for once they didn't have Weiss attempting to march the whole team out of bed at the crack of dawn, she felt so alert and ready to tackle the day. She still couldn't bring herself to move because Blake, on the other hand, seemed  _absurdly_  comfortable as she snoozed in her arms. The picture wasn't unlike a kitten languidly slumbering in the afternoon sun and Yang sighed inaudibly. She had rarely seen Blake looking so peaceful.

Inspired by this, she opted to make another attempt to bring herself to at least nod off, shutting her eyes for a few minutes again... only to very quickly decide it was a lost cause.

Yang cracked her eyes open once more, staring at the back of a dark head of hair.

They had been running around for hours the day prior, but the midnight colored locks still looked really silky. They also still smelled great, Yang observed as she leaned in slightly. Now as she was turning her attention to her partner, she also noticed both Blake's hands on her forearm, hugging the limb to herself.

Yang couldn't repress her smile; no matter how often her partner would seem aggravated with her, she'd known fully well the faunus was very fond of her. Fondness which was absolutely reciprocated.

With the smile lingering on her lips, she felt the urge to squeeze her friend and so found herself curling up around her a little closer. She rested her head again against her shoulder, welcoming how warm Blake felt in her arms. And how soft, crazy soft. Yang tightened her embrace even more. With this, she at last noticed the arm Blake hugged was being hugged to her chest in a way that let her palm cup one of the mounds perfectly.

A jolt ran through her body to freeze her in place and Yang's heart stopped for a second. Her first reflex was to very carefully try reclaiming her limb, only to find that Blake's grip on her was such that she'd definitely be bothering her and waking her up if she did take her hand back. After an interminable moment of awkward internal debate, the blonde sighed lightly, ultimately opting not to disturb her. Blake looked so serene for once, and she would be damned if she disrupted this rare incidence.

Although… now that she'd noticed her breast against her palm, she truly couldn't will herself to think of anything else.

To be fair, Yang really  _did_  try to think of  _anything_ she could to distract herself; how Ruby and Weiss's mission was going, if they'd make it there before team JNPR, what she'd eat when they made it home. However, with each breath Blake took, Yang felt her flesh pushed to her fingers and she would abruptly be brought back right in the moment. And she'd again try thinking of  _anything_  else. Yet try as she would, she was now noticing how Blake's breast felt firmer than her own and, yes indeed smaller, but just perfect for the size of her hand. Yang sighed, trying to get a grip. So to speak.

She decided she should mentally go through the steps of taking apart Ember Celica, as doing so had always been somewhat of a meditative and soothing activity for her. But then Blake had to breathe again. And Yang again tried, really,  _really_  tried to cleanse her mind of her new found curiosity for her partner's body. But the more she tried, the more she could only focus on the warmth emanating from her body and how her breast felt in her hand. Try as she might, she noticed her warmth and her slow breathing and had Blake always smelled this good?

The blonde struggled to stay still, she truly did try with everything she had to think of  _anything_  else, but the other woman's soft flesh was cupped so perfectly into her hand, and her thoughts kept shifting to this very amazing detail and it felt like her hand would start twitching if she didn't move it. Yang was powerless to stop herself when she finally curled her fingers ever so slightly for an almost imperceptible squeeze.

Somehow, the rush brought on by yielding to something forbidden, no matter how small of a gesture it had been, was nothing short of exhilarating. Her whole being seemed to accelerate and a wave of heat overtook her. Not the same kind of heat that would flood her when she activated her semblance, no. This was a very invigorating and irresistible kind of warmth, starting in the pit of her stomach and tingling to the tip of her fingers. It felt like this flash of heat made her mind go blank; fogging it to the point she couldn't formulate a coherent thought anymore. All she knew was that she wanted more. Much more. It was as if she had a taste of the forbidden fruit, and now more would never be enough. Blake hadn't budged an inch and Yang moved her fingers subtly again, guiltily coping another feel, fascinated with the difference in firmness and weight compared to her own.

If, in retrospect, she had been asked what the hell did she think she was doing, Yang would honestly not have been able to give a better explanation than…she simply wasn't thinking anymore. Exhilaration let her dare move her other hand delicately to cup her other breast, still careful not to disturb the napping faunus. She gently squeezed both, marveling at how well they fit her palms.

How her touch couldn't be excused as innocent curiosity anymore hadn't hit her yet, neither had the fact that she was  _definitely_  not being subtle anymore. She didn't seem to notice either how the way she touched her partner, whether she wished it or not, definitely held intent or what this intent was to be recognized as.

Though her brain seemed to have completely stopped working, all her other senses were tremendously heightened. The cat ear against her cheek was soft as a feather, and Blake's scent was utterly intoxicating. Yang never wanted to stop touching her and, as her light petting rapidly escalated to explicit caresses, the blonde found herself exceedingly aware that things had escalated to a point she now felt the other woman's erect and very defined nipples through the light clothing. It was only with this that her mind seem to start catching up to what she was doing. Only  _now_  did Yang start to realize how undeniably sexual her actions had been. Of course, she instantly recognized she had to stop…. but she couldn't process just how she'd be able to.

It was as if her brain had lost control over her body; she  _knew_  she unquestionably was overstepping her bounds, but her clouded thoughts made it impossible for her to persuade herself to act rationally again. She gently rolled a nipple in her fingers through her shirt, squeezing her breast again more boldly than she had intended to.

The heat Yang had felt warm her core had somewhere along the line become a raging blaze burning throughout her entire body; she exhaled a hot breath, closing her eyes and burying her face in the dark hair. At once, she came aware of how unbelievably turned on she was. Because of Blake. Blake's body, her scent, her warmth. She couldn't wrap her head around it, but there was no denying the state she was in. Had she always been attracted to Blake? Because right now, there was definitely,  _definitely_  no room for doubt about what she wanted or about the nature of her present desires.

Ashamed, she still pressed herself closer, yearning for more warmth, more of  _her_.

With the way she leaned against her back, the blonde could feel the rhythm of her partner's heart against her own chest. Her eyes snapped open; the absolutely  _wild_  rhythm of her partner's heart, indicating Blake was undeniably awake.

Yang stiffened, anxiety chilling her. In a flash, a million thoughts flew through her mind. How long had Blake been awake? Long enough, obviously! How the hell could she explain what she'd been doing? What  _was_  she doing? …Well… _that_  was obvious. But still! What the hell? And how did she expect things to go down anyways? For Blake to just shrug it off? Of course she'd be mad wouldn't she? Would she hate her? Yang had definitely crossed the line after all. How rapidly anxiety tightened her stomach and made her feel sick was astounding.  _Why_  had she let Yang do this if she'd been awake? Blake wouldn't have idly suffered through something she didn't like or want.

She held her breath as this latter thought crossed her mind.

So wait—what if she…? What if she was okay with this...? Had Blake been enjoying it?

Yang seemed to at once come aware again of how Blake's skin so was feverishly hot against hers, of how deep her breathing had gotten, of her nipples stiff through the fabric of her clothing. It was plain and clear that the other woman's body was responding to her touch. The chill brought on by her sudden concern seemed to dissipate as fast as it had taken over her as Yang finally grasped that she certainly was not the only one enjoying herself. Undoubtedly, her faunus partner was readily letting herself be fondled.

The blonde felt embers of lust flare again in her core at the idea that Blake just may also be aroused. It had never crossed her mind to even conceptualize her partner as a sexual being, but... of course Blake would have those urges and those desires. Of course Blake would sometimes want or need… this. Yang's mind was flooded,  _saturated_ with erotic images of her and her own lust now seemed to ravage her body in a blaze. Her eyelids felt heavy, her breathing labored again, and Yang could only think of how she truly didn't want to stop what had been set in motion. How she wanted to turn her on more. How she wanted to know what it was to share this intimacy with Blake.

All this happened in an instant, and it was in a split second that Yang decided to take a leap of faith; she pressed her lips to her partner's neck and started her ministrations again with renewed vigor, making her intentions clear. Blake gasped, pressing into her touch, and moved one hand over Yang's on her breast to encourage her. Her response confirmed what Yang had believed- that Blake had been  _letting_ her because she was fine with it- and the blonde now explored unashamedly, tracing her nipples, groping her breasts as she would.

She moved her lips along the skin of her neck and her shoulder, pressing closer, going up to nibble her ear and Blake groaned in pleasure. Yang trailed one hand along her partner's body to her waist, to her hip, taking the liberty to start discovering her curves, eager to know what the rest of her felt like. Groping along her hips and thighs is what had her notice the way the midnight haired beauty in her arms was fidgeting, squeezing her thighs together…bucking her hips slightly with almost every caress along her body. Blake's need for  _more_ — for a bolder, more venturing touch was glaringly obvious and Yang wondered whether or not it would be going too far were she to attempt it. Would it put a halt to this exhilarating intimacy were she to move her hand between the faunus's long, slender legs…? What if maybe that line was not one Blake was ready to cross?

The blonde exhaled a hot breath; she couldn't help being captivated with the way Blake's hips would rear when her hands found her breasts again or when she seemed to hit a sensitive spot. She was absolutely  _mesmerized_ with how Blake pushed her flawless ass back into her crotch rhythmically as Yang's efforts doubled. She sucked on her partner's neck, softly moaning too as she let her own hips follow along with Blake's in that faint thrusting movement. The heat going to her head was driving her mad and, in spite of her previous reservations, her fingers found the hem of the white shorts. They slipped underneath the fabric, tracing the line of her partner's underwear but not yet daring going any further.

Almost immediately, Blake's head snapped back to lock gazes. Her gorgeous eyes were like molten pits of gold, burning with a passion Yang had never seen from her before and, though Blake didn't say anything, Yang had the absolute certainty her partner was imploring her to go through with it. It took nothing more for her to swiftly shift their position. She guided Blake to lie on her back as she hauled herself on top and discovered she couldn't possibly have anticipated how good the faunus's body under hers would've felt. It was delicate and soft, moulding into hers like it was welcoming her, and it felt… for lack of a better word, it felt  _right_.

Had there been any trace of hesitation left in her about what she was about to do, it would've undoubtedly vanished with this. Yang knew with unprecedented certainty what she desired, yet coming to terms with these desires somehow had her unable to hold the other woman's gaze. In an attempt to hide her discomfiture, she moved in and let her lips explore her neck. It took another moment for her to gather her courage and reach down again to slide her hand back in her shorts, along her skin, beneath her underwear. Her fingers found the slit, gently rubbing along her nether lips. It amazed her how soaked her partner was; she had no idea Blake had been this turned on.

Arms around Yang's waist pulled her closer, grasping at her back, and her legs slowly spread wider as the brawler penetrated her with two fingers. Slowly, she curled her index and middle finger to get a feel of how hot and wet it was inside her and then she slowly started pumping them. Blake's hips instantly fell in rhythm with the blonde's hand and, Yang should've expected it but it still took her by surprise, Blake  _moaned_.

She moaned very quietly, but it prompted an overwhelming upsurge of desire to overcome Yang. She had never heard anything of the sort on Blake's part. Her voice, so sensual and thick with desire, intoxicated Yang with lust she'd never known she could feel. She found herself fingering her a little faster, pressed her body to hers, relished in the way the faunus clung to her, grinned wildly at the distinct purring sound rumbling from her chest—Blake was purring, she realized in awe. She'd never known her partner could do that.

She pushed her fingers deeper and Blake sighed in pleasure again, pressing her face against her shoulder. Yang was fascinated; it never had crossed her mind she'd ever be doing something like this with another woman, much less with  _Blake_. Blake who, in this last year, had become her closest friend and most trusted confidante, Blake, who, not even twenty-four hours ago, she would've been ready to call family. But… there they were. And she was  _relishing_  in the damp, slippery feel as she fingered her, in how burningly hot she was, in the way she writhed in pleasure and Yang was downright losing her mind over how sexy she was.

Blake's skin was quickly moist with the heat of their movements, and the blonde noted hers was too. She absolutely adored the way her friend pulled at her like she wanted to fuse their bodies, and how she couldn't help the few moans escaping her lips despite her apparent efforts to stay quiet. Somewhere along the way Yang's breath had become ragged too; she struggled to stay in rhythm with Blake as her movements became more and more heated until she ultimately froze, digging her nails in her back, reaching her climax. Her loud purring gradually faded as Blake relaxed under her, also easing her grip on her.

Yang heaved heavily from the effort, lying very still with her partner's head in the crook of her neck. She leaned her chin lightly on the head of dark hair, feeling an overheating cat ear against her cheek. As the tension dropped, Yang seemed to finally be capable of some lucidity; all at once she came all too aware of the silence that abruptly filled the room.

Her mind reeled. What had just happened? All of a sudden, she was so embarrassedly conscious of Blake's heat and slickness around her fingers, prompting her to slowly pull them out and removing her hand from the faunus's underwear. How did this even happen? Dread was starting to creep at the corner of her mind at the idea of having to justify herself to her partner now that they had calmed down. Where did all this come from? She was in absolute shock over what she'd just done. She couldn't seem to comprehend her own actions. Just what had taken over her? This sudden lust over her partner blindsided her and even more so how she impulsively had gone through with her unexpected desires.

Absolutely mortified, Yang didn't dare move another inch. What if Blake demanded explanations? Could she even begin to explain? What could she possibly say except she suddenly felt like it? Because that's exactly what had happened. She suddenly felt like it. She didn't know what it meant or what she wanted out of this.

Although…. Blake had willingly submitted to her touch, encouraged her even, so wasn't Yang also entitled to some explanations?

…Explanations that however would  _still_  have to start with addressing Yang's behavior in the first place.

Before the blonde could agonize another second over what then, she felt her partner's hands unclench from her back. One tenderly slid through the golden locks and the other went around her torso to outline one of her breasts, already wholly taking hold of it. Yang shuddered. She was so incredibly turned on that any touch from Blake's would send her reeling. But also… relief washed over her for the second time. She had been terrified her partner would confront her; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she was  _elated_  to feel fingers tentatively searching her body.

Blake's forehead was still pressed against her shoulder and the blonde could feel her deep, hot exhalations against her chest. She couldn't quite tell if her heaving was a remnant of the exertion of being brought to orgasm or if it may have been caused by Blake's potential excitement and anticipation with reciprocating. Whichever it was, it was  _hot_ , and the blonde rapidly felt her body grow feverish again.

Fingers combed along blonde curls down her back, followed the curve of her spine, ending on her rear. She squeezed her cheek with one hand, getting a good feel of her ass, and Yang heard herself let out a sound that wasn't quite a chuckle nor a moan. She felt Blake's lips curl into a smile against her neck in response. "That was really sexy," the dark haired faunus murmured, her mouth lingering against her skin.

A grin etched itself on Yang's features; she was thrilled to understand Blake wasn't doing this solely to return the favour. Her partner making herself do this like it was a chore, as if she owed her, was the last thing she wanted. But no, Blake had found hearing her  _sexy_ , and the last moments came back to Yang at once – how soaking wet the other woman had been, how she'd held onto her and even _purred_. It was crystal clear that Blake was actively enjoying this, and Yang was  _electrified_. And she wanted her to touch. She wanted her partner's fingers and hands on her and  _in_  her. She  _wanted_ her.

In what was an almost involuntary impulse, an uncontrollable urge, Yang pressed her chest into the smaller hand in an attempt to encourage the caresses. Blake started assertively massaging her breast again and with her other hand she explored still her lower back and ass.

Yang held back some of her weight by leaning on her elbows, both arms on each side of her friend's head, but the more she felt her touch, the more she felt like just collapsing. Her partner's long, delicate fingers travelled along her body, finding her hips, caressing her sides, her skin along the yellow tube top, tracing the faint definition of her abs. Blake was apparently taking her time getting to know her body and Yang was agonizing over the teasing.

She was horribly turned on by having gotten the other woman off and, though she couldn't deny the taboo weighted at the back of her mind, the exhilaration of going there was mind-blowing. And she knew all of it wasn't only because she was doing all this with another woman, but very much so because this was  _Blake_ , of all people. Blake, her trusted partner, who had always been so secretive, so private, who'd been so guarded and felt impenetrable… Yang pressed her face in the dark hair, intoxicated with her scent.

This impression of mystery, of aloofness, of  _distance_ about Blake had been so dominant, the sheer contrast in this moment as the dark haired faunus now pushed their bodies closer, caressed her hips again, as Blake openly showed fierce desire,  _lust,_ was utterly staggering . All this had the blonde in an astounding state of arousal; she never had felt such an urge for release before.

Blake's fingers almost came to a halt as she traced the hem of the black shorts around the brawler's stomach and, with this, Yang noticed the way her breath shivered against her neck. Was this nervousness? Anticipation? She wondered if Blake hesitated to go any further for other reasons. "You don't have to if you don't want to. Don't feel like you owe me anything," she said despite how  _savagely_  she wanted Blake to dare further. She would hate for Blake to force herself into anything she was uncomfortable with… and yet still, the blonde shivered at the delicate caresses on her stomach, fingers still following the fabric of her shorts.

"…I know, Yang," Blake's voice was so faint it could have been her imagination. "But I  _want_  to," she asserted before her hand promptly sunk in her underwear.

Blake let her index and middle finger slide against the burning, wet flesh, immediately finding the bud. Stiffening momentarily, Yang then let a deep exhalation escape her as she relaxed again, pressing her hips forward against her touch. This seemed to motivate Blake, who started stroking in a steady come and go movement, which Yang found herself immediately following with a faint thrusting of her hip.

"God, yes…" she groaned in pleasure.

The blonde couldn't remember the last time she had been this turned on, if she'd ever been, and whatever part of her brain that was still lucid was in awe at how such light contact could feel like the heavens were within reach. Not without effort, she managed to move her arms around the faunus. She craved to hold her, yearned to feel every detail of her body against hers.

She felt her fingers move lower and stop at the entrance. Blake dipped her index in, then deliberately let it and her middle finger in only to her first knuckle. She slowly pulled out her fingers, before fully pushing them back in even slower. Yang gave a very quiet but incredibly deep moan, tightening her hug. Blake's fingers were inside of her. She barely could believe it, and her body was shaking with pleasure. The feeling of them sliding out slightly and pushed in again was  _fantastic_  and Yang moved to hide her face in the dark hair again. Blake did smell amazing after all.

"Blake," she managed between unsteady breaths. She didn't even know what she wanted to tell her. She wanted to say her name. She wanted her to know how much she loved what she was doing. She wanted her to feel how much she needed more, how much she wanted to be pushed over the edge. Blake felt like heaven right now. No, Blake  _was_  heaven itself. "Blake," she repeated, her voice dripping with lust.

Blake's lips found her neck, collarbone, whatever skin of her chest was available, the arm around her clutched her again as she pushed her fingers harder, deeper. Yang felt herself weaken, her arms were failing her and she didn't seem to be able to hold back her own weight, unable to prevent herself from slouching heavily on the other woman. Blake's head pressed against her shoulder, her harsh breath burned her neck, and Yang gripped her desperately. "Holy fuck, Blake…"

She was lightheaded, unable to think. Fingers slid in and out, steadily picking up pace and Yang met her movement with her hips, letting out pleased sighs every time Blake's fingers reached deep within her again. Sweat pearled off her skin and stuck to Blake's, and it was fine.

Blake's second hand moved from around her waist to grip her ass, taking control of her thrust and Yang wanted nothing more than for her partner to own her entire body. She wanted to melt into her. She wanted to lose herself into her. It wasn't long before she saw fireworks. Her body clenched, euphoria, and then reality came crashing back around her.

Yang panted hard, pressing her forehead against the head of dark hair. The other woman's hand slowly retreated from inside her shorts, finding its way around her to settle in an embrace instead. It was dazzling how Blake had brought her over the edge so quickly.

It was  _astounding_ how all this with Blake…  _about_  Blake had inflamed her so. Both their breathing slowly came back to a normal rhythm and she remembered that she should loosen her embrace. The blonde couldn't bring herself to move from on top of her; she felt so fulfilled and happy… she wished to just naturally drift back to sleep holding her.

There was an almost silent click coming from their wrists, prompting them both to glance at the piece of equipment the school had lent them. The lights had switched.

Blake exhaled. "We might want to get going. We have to check out soon anyways."

The blonde hummed, snuggling the gorgeous faunus under her. "Give me another minute, will ya? I'm not quite back to earth yet."

Hands softly ran up and down her back, comforting. "Take the time you need," she whispered.

Yang almost told her not to say that, because she'd  _never_ be ready to get off. To hell with their assignment, to hell with Beacon Academy, to hell with returning home…what she wanted was to tear all their clothes off, feel Blake's bare skin against hers, go for round two and then fall asleep again.

But she knew that's not how it went. She didn't know what this was, where it come from, what it meant or if it was going to ever happen again, so never mind round two right now. In all its spontaneity, it had been staggeringly intense but… barely any words had been exchanged and neither of them had dared getting naked. It felt to Yang as if remaining clothed had taken from the intimacy. They hadn't bared themselves to each other. They surely hadn't bared their thoughts or feelings about this to each other either.

Yang's eyes fluttered open.

Blake didn't seem in any hurry to talk about it and didn't seem to be expecting explanations either, which was a relief. Not that Yang wouldn't want to talk about it; on the contrary, she would  _love_  to know how Blake felt. All the more so given how she'd so readily let her in and in turn so eagerly returned the favor. But Yang didn't know what to say for herself. She didn't know what had possessed her suddenly, she had no idea where she wanted to be standing in all this and even less what she wanted for the future….so, for now, no talking about it seemed like a fair arrangement to her.

Finally, she found the courage to tear herself off and let Blake move. The dark haired faunus rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom for a quick shower.

**tbc**


	2. Chapter 2

Blake had pushed them through the day effortlessly, obliterating Grimm and getting them to the next town in what she deemed to be record time. She was incredibly thankful that unlike the prior evening, the soulless beasts weren't an endless swarm. Oh, not because she doubted her own abilities to fend them off, no, what she doubted was Yang's ability to stay still and let her do most of the fighting. Had there been more Grimm, who knows what kind of reckless behavior on her partner's part Blake would have had to deal with.

She also had to admit that focusing on  _anything_  today proved to be a formidable challenge; her thoughts kept sliding back to what had happened that morning. She still couldn't believe it. The feeling of Yang's hands lingered on her chest, on her hips, even deep within her, and she'd feel her core flare up again. All the while, she'd then realize she had struck down another Grimm. She was on auto-pilot and though she  _knew_  how dangerous it could be to be so distracted… she just couldn't help losing track of their surroundings.

If she didn't keep herself in check, she would be overrun again and again with the memory of Yang's weight and warmth over her, or the scent of her skin, of her hair as Blake had pressed her face to her neck.

It was months ago that, as she'd realized the frequency with which her partner would draw her eye, she'd forbidden herself to let her mind wander. Of course she'd sometimes still catch herself doing it, but… she more often than not was able to stop herself before delving too much down that route. Letting herself fantasize of her partner this way would only be hurting herself needlessly. After all, the chances the other woman would ever reciprocate interest were absurdly low. And she couldn't complicate things. She  _refused_  to be responsible for this kind of mess, she could  _not_  afford to risk the integrity of her precious team over one-sided… what? One-sided what? Curiosity? Lust? Blake didn't want to think about it.

Of course, Yang unknowingly had made exercising restraint challenging; the blonde bombshell knew how to dress her body to flatter her curves and she had a downright distressing way of finding herself in Blake's personal space. Not to mention the constant flirting! That woman flirted like second nature, leaving a trail of broken hearts everywhere she went, Blake knew it, and exactly  _because_  she knew this… of course Blake never thought, not even for a  _second_ , that her partner's honeyed words to her held any authenticity, much less  _intent_! Yet with the recent developments, she was forced to rethink their interactions. Something she kept reminding herself was  _not_  the time for; she has to focus.

Bottom line, preoccupied as she was, the lack of Grimm had been a blessing.

Though they hadn't exchanged much during the day, Blake couldn't say she was alarmed or even concerned in any ways. It was obvious they both needed some time to process what happened. While Yang had initiated, it looked to Blake like her partner was quite at loss and, although not  _cold_  towards her, certainly withdrawn. It was strange being accompanied by such a tame Yang. Ignoring the fact that the green light on Blake's wrist meant the brawler couldn't throw herself into combat, Yang still had abstained from her dreadful puns and senseless flirting which left them with unusually long silences. But once again… since it didn't appear to Blake like the air was strained per se or that Yang was ill at ease beyond her confusion, she let it go.

In all this, what she disliked was that those silences left too much space for herself to reflect on the hurricane of emotions now subjugating her typically calm disposition. It had been easier not to go there when she'd been absolutely certain it was hopeless. But  _now_ … the sensation of Yang's body pressed to hers and way she had moaned her name were  _haunting_  her. The latent desires she'd managed to brush off more often than not were now more alive than ever. Not to mention… the feelings she had done her absolute best to smother, convincing herself they were stupid and futile, were emerging in full-force to assault her mind.

Mission-wise, everything ran so smoothly it was almost a joke; they had made it to the rendezvous point shortly before sunset, yet they still had about twenty hours left before they would be picked up. Needless to say, as the evening had already darkened the town, they had found themselves in another inn.

The room had two beds this time.

It had been Yang who had checked them in, and as they made themselves comfortable, Blake couldn't help but wonder if the blonde would have rather shared a bed again. If maybe she'd asked for two beds because she simply hadn't had the nerve to presume Blake would want to again.

The faunus somehow willed her mind to silence. She was not going to drive herself mad overthinking this and she was  _not_  going to imagine an opportunity for… more at every turn. Otherwise, she would lose it before the end of the night, she told herself. Though as Yang excused herself to shower first Blake still had the fleeting thought of joining her. She pictured the hot water running off her partner's stunning figure, her soaked mane of golden locks sticking to her skin. A shiver coursed through her; of course Blake couldn't find it in herself to dare. After all, she still had no idea what had possessed Yang to do what she did or if maybe she was over it now that she'd satisfied some curiosity… or worse, if she regretted their actions.

She didn't seem to have enough time to mull over all this before it was her own turn to shower. The thoughts she entertained now began to be tainted with dread. What if Yang hadn't enjoyed herself much? What if it had indeed been nothing but curiosity and Blake had been so caught up with her own desires she had only imagined seeing the same yearning in the amethyst eyes? What if Yang in fact  _regretted_  what they'd done? What if, in retrospect, she thought it was weird? What if she was ashamed? What if from then on, she started to pretend nothing ever happened? What if talking about it became taboo, a secret to never broach? Blake felt she'd slowly die if it were the case.

When the dark haired faunus got out of the shower, she found her partner methodically cleaning the parts of her weapon which she had completely taken apart. Yang looked fully immersed in what she was doing so, without a word, Blake settled on her own bed with her scroll, leaving the blonde to her meticulous task. Before departing from Beacon, she had downloaded to her device a novel she'd wanted to read for a while; if anything could distract her from her concerns, it would be a good story.

She found she had lost track of time when she was eventually interrupted by her friend's very familiar voice. "Do you want to read a bit more, or is it okay if I close the lights?"

Blake glanced up to see Ember Celica put back together into polished, small, yellow-golden cuffs on Yang's bedside table. "We can go to bed," she quietly answered, powering off her scroll.

Flicking the switch, Yang bathed the room in darkness and tip-toed back to her bed. They said their goodnights, and Blake found herself staring emptily into the darkness.

She had dreaded the moment when they would have time to settle down and talk about what happened. Blake had been torn over whether or not she should face and explore those surfacing feelings, the ones she had known were growing within her and had deliberately ignored. She knew if she opened the dam, what would flood her would be unstoppable; there would be no going back. And she so,  _so_ , didn't want to feel this way about Yang. It would be too complicated. It would be risking the integrity of the team. It would be risking the person she had come to rely on the most… the person who had come to mean the most to her. Blake wondered if Yang thought of any of that when she chose to do what she did this morning.

But now that they had gone to bed while not having sorted anything out, with the air still unclear and with the impression things would stay nebulous indefinitely, Blake felt like a complete fool for dreading the talk instead of dreading the prospect of the silence. Leaving everything hanging felt a thousand times worse than having to face the music and she was stuck with a positively unhealthy amount of questions to which she didn't know if she'd  _ever_ get answers to. Fretting over how her partner felt, over what she thought, was sending Blake in a downward spiral. Again she wondered if Yang was ashamed of their actions, or worse, if she may come to develop some revulsion towards her. If Blake had stopped her then, would things be better now? Would a rejection that morning have been better in the long run? Not that she possibly could've rejected her, though.

All of it was threatening to suffocate her. Blake feared she might not be able to find any sleep at all. Tossing and turning surely didn't help. She glanced at the clock; an hour already since they went to bed, yet she was still wide awake. Her eyes travelled to the other bed. Being a faunus meant darkness didn't impede her vision and, through the obscurity, she could easily make out how Yang laid very still, staring up at the ceiling.

Blake sighed softly. "You're still awake too."

"Yeah."

Her heart seemed to jump in her chest and Blake decided that, before she lost her nerve, they had to settle this. "…Are you also thinking of what happened this morning?"

There was a long pause before Yang answered again. "….Yeah."

Blake wasn't sure if Yang's lack of volunteering her thoughts was a confirmation she was uncomfortable with what they had done. The blonde had been markedly different today; she usually was not one to swallow down whatever was on her mind and, though the faunus hadn't read her more quiet demeanor as something negative then, she was now tremendously scared. Blake turned on her back, holding her breath. "…So how do you feel?"

Yang let out a dry, unamused short laugh. "You're asking me how  _I_ feel?" She mused. Then her voice was softer, a touch apprehensive but so gentle. "…I'm the one who pulled a stunt on you," she breathed, regret apparent in her tone. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have."

Her fists clenched onto her bedcovers left her fingers feeling cold, and Blake wondered how breathing had become so difficult. "Don't be sorry," she answered, surprised with how smooth she managed to keep her voice. "…What are you sorry for?"

There was slight hesitation, and it was another moment before Yang spoke again. "…Forcing this on you," she carefully said. "I should've… asked. I just… I thought… I mean—at that time, it looked to me that you liked… o-or  _wanted_ …" She trailed off. Blake didn't dare glance her way, but she could hear her restlessness and agitation from the bedcovers being rearranged or maybe tossed off. "…I mean, I wish you would have stopped me if you were uncomfortable, and I wish you hadn't-" She stopped herself again. "Sorry. Sorry. I don't mean that. I'm not blaming you.  _I_  should  _never_  have done what I did, not without asking and—and… and I should have been able to read you better, and… not…" There was another silence. "I thought you were enjoying it, a-and I…" she yet again couldn't finish her sentence, now sounding quite strained. "I really shouldn't have done what I did to start with. I don't know where it came from or why I went ahead with it. I crossed the line. I'm sorry."

For a second, she was confused with what her partner was saying. Did she think Blake was not okay with what had gone down? That she would rather it not happened? …Wasn't it the opposite?

Trying to take a step back and evaluate things from her partner's point of view had the situation instantly clear up; Yang probably seemed aloof not solely because of her own confusion, but also because she was worried about  _her_. Blake supposed she would have come off very different herself the whole day… and maybe observing her partner's quietness, thinking she was leaving her space ended up making  _her_  appear cold to the blonde. "You mean to tell me… all day, you've been distant because you've were concerned about  _my_  feelings towards what we did?"

"Shouldn't I be?" she shot back. "I mean, you're not usually the most talkative person, but damn, I don't think you said more than a dozen words the whole day." Yang then sighed lightly and hearing her shuffling around drew the faunus's gaze to her.

Yang sat up in her bed, looking her way, but it was unclear if through the darkness she could make out her features. On her part, Blake could very well see the confusion and unease on her partner's.

"Listen Blake… if you're not okay with what happened, I need to know. If you regret, if you feel uncomfortable in any way, I  _have_  to know," she pleaded, before exhaling a shaky breath. "…I know what I did was…unexpected. And unacceptable. I just…" Yang took a long moment in an apparent attempt to reorder the speech she probably had mulled over all day. "I didn't know I was— I… I'm…" She trailed off, and even through the darkness, Blake could see her blush. Yang sighed again. "I never knew that I… th-that I had it in me to…  _want_  another woman that way," she guiltily admitted. "I  _swear_  I never realized I—that I… … e-especially towards  _you_ …." She paused again, and the way she stared through the darkness gave Blake the impression she could indeed see her. The blonde's eyes were on her features and she looked both apprehensive and discomfited. "And I'm sorry you had to be... subjected to my own self-discovery, I didn't mean to impose anything on you... I feel disgusted that I did." With this, she seemed to find a little resolve. "I swear I won't do anything inappropriate again. I'll sort myself out. We can sort it out," Yang implored with all her heart. "I'm so,  _so_ sorry," she quietly added.

 _What ludicrous situational irony_ , Blake thought. Both of them had been  _so_  concerned about how the other felt, they had caused each other to worry. She thanked the heavens she broached the subject before things got out of hand and created a rift between them. She exhaled again, this time a little nervous. It felt as if whatever she would say now would completely redefine their relationship. It may in truth have been selfish to take this gamble regarding her best friend and partner, but Blake couldn't let this opportunity slip by her.

She closed her eyes to calm her nerves. "You have nothing to be sorry about, Yang," she gently said. She didn't quite know how to communicate how so very on board she was with all this because, as a matter of fact, she'd been fantasizing about her for  _months_. "Why do you think I responded the way I did…? I've also been guilty of wanting…  _this,_ " she quietly admitted. "What you did was welcomed. And… I was disappointed you requested a room with two beds tonight."

There was a silence in the room that seemed to last forever to Blake. That was, until she heard the other bed creak and glanced her way; through the darkness, Blake saw her stand and swiftly walk over.

Without asking, Yang pulled the covers and climbed in to press herself on top of her, trapping her under a much stronger body and an avalanche of golden locks. She couldn't have been more welcomed, just feeling again the weight and heat of Yang's body above her was bliss. Blake drew her into a desperate embrace. She could feel how labored her partner's breathing was with exhilaration, the way her chest pressed into Blake more with every inhalation, the way her breath burned on her skin. And Blake couldn't help pulling her even closer, wishing the fabric of their clothing would do her a favor and just disappear. Fingers were unashamedly searching her body already and Blake felt her grip on reality slip. Her mind was quickly fogging up with desire and nothing but Yang seemed to exist anymore.

It was in a fleeting flash of lucidity that she remembered this didn't settle anything. Fore sure her worries had pretty much gone up in smoke, but Blake still didn't know what this was. She knew they  _needed_ to talk about this too. "Yang…" It sounded more like moan than she would have wished.

"Yeah?" She gripped her rear, pulled her up against her to press their midsections and lower body closer together and Blake couldn't help her feeble gasp.

For a second the midnight haired faunus forgot what she wanted to say, she thrust instinctively against her partner's pelvis. Fierce desire overwhelmed her rapidly yet the need for answers pulled at the back of her mind. She couldn't leave things up in the air again, still not knowing if Yang meant for this to be anything more than pleasure for the sake of it. It took everything she had, but she made herself snap back to reality, trying  _so hard_  to straighten out her thoughts. "Yang, please-" But then Yang was sucking on her neck and her mind reeled, came completely undone, her thoughts completely scattered and out of grasp.

"… I've been thinking all day, you know…" The blonde whispered, her breath hot against her ear.

A million thoughts came to her at once, jumbled, a mess of emotions, words and memories. Blake had been thinking too and through it all, one thing weighing more on her more than anything else, that thing she had been running from for months. Through the haze, Blake was still sensible enough to decide that before she chanced saying anything compromising about what was becoming increasingly clear to her, it might be best to hear her partner. She would hate to say too much and scare the other woman into stopping what was happening. "About what, exactly?" she simply murmured back.

"…I tried to make sense of things, I guess, I've been trying to think…  _really_  trying to sort myself…sort out what happened…" Yang was so close, her lips brushed against her cheek as she talked. "I thought… with what I did, I needed to have explanations for you." Her voice sounded a bit apologetic and she paused then had a light chuckle, apparently at her own derision. "But I don't have anything to offer because see, I kept being distracted by how I couldn't believe I didn't take the opportunity to kiss you…" she whispered, drawing back to lock gazes. Her eyes, significantly darker than the usual amethyst so dilated were her pupils, were clouded with engulfing desire the same way they had been in the morning and Blake's heart hammered in her chest. "Blake," Yang breathed her name like it was her lifeline. "Can I kiss you?"

Instantly, Blake's hand in the blonde hair slid along her jaw, inviting her, capturing her lips with hers as soon as she could. Goose bumps and oblivion; how sweet it was. How long had she wanted this? Staring at her lips, wondering what her kiss was like. Finding passion and hunger didn't surprise her in the least. Yang's kiss seemed to burn through her, engulfing her in an untamable blaze that, despite herself, awakened for good everything she had struggled so desperately to repress.

It had been a few months ago that Blake had realized that, somewhere along the line, she'd started feeling something she had deemed inappropriate for the other woman. She would catch herself staring at her and she truly had been unable to completely suppress her fantasies, but she had forbidden herself to dwell on them, afraid that facing what nestled inside her would worsen her situation. In this moment, she understood that not allowing herself to think about this had done nothing to prevent her feelings from growing. And in this moment, she started to understand how deeply they now ran.

As she avidly kissed her back, readily granting the other woman entry when she felt her tongue trace her lower lip, Blake felt her heart rapidly devoured by incandescent passion. It felt like she had opened Pandora's Box. The raven haired faunus was flooded with everything she had managed to stifle until now. All the passion, all the adoration, all the longing, all the hunger…the whole extent of what had been boiling inside her, everything ran free. For the first time, she truly came aware herself of just how hopelessly in love she was.

Her hands flowed down her back, groping her partner's round buttocks, pulling closer, bucking her hips against her. And amazingly,  _miraculously_ , Yang  _wanted_ her. Blake devoured her lips, losing herself completely in the moment, barely registering it as Yang had started to disrobe her. Intertwined as they were, the brawler had still somehow managed to pull Blake's shirt up over her breasts to caress her. She didn't know how long they kissed, searching curves through garments, pulling at their clothes, but eventually Blake's thirst was quenched enough for her to be able to release Yang's lips at least for a few minutes.

However, Blake didn't want to talk anymore. She didn't want to sort anything out about what this meant because something told her that if there were any feelings involved, Yang would have at least tested the waters. Her fiery partner would not be able to keep something of this magnitude hidden for long. Even if she'd somehow stifled her impulsive nature, Yang was a horrible liar and had she understood her yearning ran deeper than pure lust, if this had been anything more, it most likely would have shown through.

Blake decided she didn't mind for now if things stayed nebulous, as long as she could share the other woman's warmth. She would rather not know anything, because talking things through would bring to the surface her own feeling and it could certainly be synonymous with rejection.

…And she would be damned if she said anything that would make Yang stop. She couldn't scare her off, not right now. Talking could wait until the next day, or the day after, or maybe in another lifetime, but right now, she needed to consume this passion. She needed to know at  _least_  once — _just once_..!—what it was like to be her lover. Through the darkness, she studied her partner's face, tenderly outlining her exquisite features with the tip of her fingers. "Let's not do this through our clothing this time around…"

Yang nodded, her hand trailing from Blake's bare stomach to her breast. "I want to feel your skin against mine," she whispered, gently rolling her thumb over a nipple.

Blake gasped a sound meant half in approval of what Yang said and half in response to her caresses. She arched her back to press into her hand, surprised that she wasn't embarrassed about her chest being bared. She assumed her desire to take down any barrier between them was culprit and she reached for the loose orange tank top the other woman was wearing. "Take this off," she urged.

Though she was the one who asked, and even if it was so she could undress, Yang's hands and weight leaving her body still was agony. Blake busied herself getting rid of her own top, but before she could do away with her panties too, she found herself pinned again under the brawler's this time gloriously naked body. She gasped; her skin was smoldering hot and silky smooth and her muscular body still soft in all the right places. Blake buried her face in the crook of her neck relishing in the strong arms embracing her and the delicious scent of her hair. The feeling of skin against skin was so beyond anything she could've anticipated, she was ready to call this a divine experience. The pleased rumbling started up again in her chest against her will.

"I never knew you could purr before this morning," Yang murmured mischievously, a gentle breath against a cat ear.

"I don't like people to know…" Blake admitted, her fingers trailing on the newly uncovered skin, almost afraid doing so would break a spell.

She exhaled, moving closer to her lips again. "You're kidding, right? It's adorable."

Blake didn't wait to be kissed, she moved in, eagerly meeting her halfway. She felt Yang shift to press her thigh between her legs and she knew that her partner would feel how she'd soaked through the thin fabric of her underwear. Knowing Yang would feel the wetness against her skin only served to turn her on so much more. She rubbed herself against her leg, caressing her shoulders and she felt Yang's embrace grow stronger, pushing her tongue in her mouth. Blake was overwhelmed, melting, her heart resonated through her body, her pulse in perfect synch with her partner's if the flawless rhythm they fell in was any indication. Her hands got lost in the soft golden locks, she arched her back into her and the air around them was becoming hot, suffocating. Already, Blake couldn't seem to catch her breath, though it's not like she cared. She had to die someday and dying of trying to quench this thirst for the woman she loved sounded like the best way to go anyhow.

Only… Yang released her lips, pulling back only an inch—an inch too far. Blake had been so caught up in the kiss, she hadn't noticed when one of Yang's hands had slid down her body to her rear again, now coming aware of how she had been encouraging the thrusting of her hips. Blake only now realized how heated her grinding against her thigh was and how this was probably why she was so desperate for air. Blake's eyelids felt heavy, but with her eyes cracked open she met dark violet ones. Her partner's avid gaze bore into her, making her so very aware of how keenly the blonde was observing every one of her reactions.

Yang's hot breath still warming her face, mingling with her own, had her completely intoxicated. The hand on her ass slid under the fabric of her underwear, still inciting the motion of her hip, and Blake bit back another moan. Her partner's eyes were locked on her features and Blake felt utterly exposed and vulnerable and this once in her life she didn't care. She was already treading near the edge and although she didn't want to be pushed over so hastily, her partner seemed to sense how close she was. She pushed her thigh more strongly against her and didn't let her slow down. With her arms around her neck, Blake clutched desperately, groaning, and her skin stuck to Yang's burning one, and sweet release washed over her all too soon. Ultimately, she could breathe again.

Yang longingly kissed her cheek before trailing kisses along her jaw to nibble at her ear while she recovered. "You're so hot," she whispered. "Do you even know how much you turn me on?"

Blake exhaled, still trying to get a hold of herself, but she couldn't help her smirk. "I may have an idea," she smugly answered. "I'm different from you, remember? I can  _smell_ how wet you are."

She pulled back enough to meet her eyes again, her face a perfect blend of impressed and uncertain. The blonde was apparently trying to assess if her faunus partner was messing with her.

Amused with the other woman's positively mystified expression, she briefly played with the idea of leaving the truth up in the air. Ultimately, she decided the facts were too good not to disclose. "I'm not joking," Blake revealed.

"That's…unfair, and really awesome," she laughed, always one to be thrilled with the unexpected. "So you can tell?"

"Oh yeah… I can tell," she quietly confirmed, her hands finding her partner's ass and caressing up her back under her hair. "I could also tell this morning," she added. "How riled up you were simply from lightly fondling my chest was astounding."

The expression on her face was like a deer in headlights, Yang stared down at her looking absolutely mortified. "…Just…for how long were you awake before I realized…?"

"A while," Blake murmured. "When I came to, you hadn't  _really_  gotten into it yet."

She broke eye contact. "Sorry."

"It's okay…I let you do as you pleased all that time after all," she conceded. "I thought it was just curiosity."

"…That's what it was at first," Yang pointed out. "It's just… we kinda found out at the same time that it wasn't  _all_  there was."

The faunus laughed and met her lips once more, savoring the simple fact of being allowed to do so. With her smile still gracing her features, she then guided her partner into switching positions. She had noticed that morning how Yang seemed to have struggled to hold off some of her weight and this time Blake wanted her to relax and let go completely. Plus, she wouldn't mind more control. She pulled back to take a moment to appreciate the view on her partner's body. The blonde's typical choice of garments never really hid her shape much, however… seeing her naked was a  _completely_  different experience. Yang was more beautiful than she'd dared imagine on the sparse occasions she had dared fantasize about her. Blake bit her lower lip; knowing what she'd desired so agonizingly much was hers to take felt surreal.

Slowly, she approached her again, brushing her lips to her collarbone, taking in the enthralling scent of her skin, she trailed kisses down to her chest. As she cradled one in her hand, bringing her mouth to suck on it, she observed Yang's breasts were, though very large and heavy, somehow much softer than hers. The blonde sighed in satisfaction, gently holding her head against her, combing dark locks of wavy hair with her fingers. She opened her legs as Blake settled on top of her and, as she laid down, Blake had no choice but to come aware again of the state her partner was in. Their position had her lower stomach pressed to Yang's burning and wet core and Blake pressed closer, visceral need flaring up again deep within her. Her teeth lightly raked over a nipple, she sucked harder, squeezing her other breast and gripping her thigh to press her midsection against her sex. Yang squirmed under her, rolling her hips, rubbing against her stomach and noticeably gumming it with her fluids.

"Blake,  _please_ …" she breathed. "I'm so fucking turned on, I can't, don't make me wait."

Somehow this made the faunus chuckle, she was simply exhilarated with how amazingly aroused her partner was. She couldn't wrap her head around how much Yang actually wanted her. Electing not to tease her right off the bat, she lifted herself just enough to squeeze her arm between them, finding her sweet spot to massage in a circular motion. Yang's voice was magnificent; she growled and chuckled and hummed with pleasure as Blake pleasured her. Her hands in the dark hair in turn were gently combing and suddenly clutching and then loosened up again to tenderly scratch around her cat ears. The faunus moved her mouth to her other breast and her partner kissed the top of her head.

When Blake slid her fingers in, she felt herself lifted off the bed slightly as the other woman arched her back under her and quickly remembered her own weight was nothing to her partner, unlike the way Yang would firmly pin her down when she was above her. She thrust her fingers slowly at first, though as Yang bucked her hips under her, encouraging her, her cadence hastily picked up to a vigorous pace. She reached deep inside of her and Yang blissfully moaned her name again. Blake absolutely loved the way she would let it roll off her tongue every time the stakes were raised. Sometimes she whispered it with need, other times she seemed to be imploring, but  _any_  way she called Blake's name was fantastic; it would inflame her even more.

Yang rested shaky hands on her shoulders. "I don't think I've ever been this wet before," she admitted between heavy breaths. "This is amazing…"

Her comment compelled Blake to notice how slick her fingers were, how even her palm was getting slimy, how the bed sheets were stained too. She licked her lips and took out her fingers, instantly the blonde's head snapped up to throw her a betrayed look. Maintaining eye contact, Blake brought her fingers to her mouth, deliberately sucking them clean so slowly, holding her stare as Yang's expression morphed from slightly bothered to mesmerized. Her fingers traced on her own lips the ghost of a smile, the luscious taste lingered in her mouth—Yang's taste. Blake realized she was salivating.

Before she knew it, she was already kissing her partner's stomach, her tongue dipping in her bellybutton, Yang's stomach quivered against Blake's lips as she followed down the faint outline of her abs, each shivering breaths betraying the brawler's anticipation. The musky scent and hot air made her dizzy with lust, and Blake didn't hesitate to press her mouth to the wet flesh, parting her lips with her tongue.

"Oh fuck  _yes_."

Blake grinned, holding on to the thighs now resting on her shoulders as she gave long licks, trying to lap up as much as she could before she dug in. How many times had she fantasized about this? Watching her every day in those stupidly short shorts, wondering how the skin of her thighs would feel against her cheek. Wondering if the delicious scent of her body was any indication of how she would taste. Wondering how sensitive she was, if the rougher part of Blake's cat-textured tongue would be too much for her to handle.

Blake relished in finding out these answers. The skin on her thighs was remarkably delicate and stuck to her cheek with the dampness of the sweat. Yang tasted sweeter than she imagined, the fluids thicker than Blake's own, leaving a strong taste in her mouth. She stuck her tongue out further, giving her a sample of the rougher texture at the back and Yang parted her legs wider, losing herself in the pleasure, pushing back with her hips,  _chanting_ her name. Blake shivered. Yang wouldn't shut up in day to day life; of course she'd be the same in bed… though the dark haired woman found she was immensely enjoying her passionate and vocal reactions. She couldn't help bringing one hand down and touch herself; Yang turned her on so much.

Her sense of time seemed to fail her, it felt like it was only an instant and her partner had already reached her tipping point. Blake could feel a pulse against her tongue, small contractions coming from deep within her partner, the muscles in her trembling thighs contracted as she closed her legs slightly, her hands clutching the dark hair roughly. Blake fingered herself faster, madly aroused by the blonde's climax, but she couldn't catch up to her before she felt her relax and release her.

Hands gently tugged at her. "Come up here," Yang managed to articulate, attempting to catch her breath. Blake moved up, stretching over her, and lying to fill the void of her open arms. Yang's embrace was needy, though not in the carnal way it had been moments before. It felt serene, loving, so soothing and safe, it served to remind Blake how much she loved her warmth. "That was incredible," Yang whispered, drawing her into a tender kiss.

Blake  _tried_  to answer her kiss gently, yet wound up as she was and still craving passion and release, she knew no matter how gentle she tried to be her appetite showed through. She eagerly kissed her back and, entangled with the other woman's body, she couldn't resist faintly rubbing against her thigh again. Though she didn't want to urge her, it was beyond her power to stifle her impulses.

Yang smiled through the kiss. "Oh, don't worry, I know…" she murmured, acknowledging her partner's glaringly obvious need. One of her hands trailed down her spine to lightly tap her ass. "I promise I'll do something about that. But first…" she met her eyes, an amused gleam lighting up the amethyst color. "…Why don't you show me what you were doing, kitten?"

This took her by surprise; she found herself blushing slightly both because of how embarrassing the demand itself was, but also because she hadn't realized Yang had been in any position to notice. She knew her partner was likely teasing her, but she felt something flare up from deep within her, as if challenged. Blake detached herself from her, taking advantage of the moment to finally discard her underwear; she moved to sit astride on her stomach. She felt the other woman's enthralled gaze travel along her now completely exposed figure. "Are you a bit of a voyeur, Xiao Long?" she mocked.

Like the cheeky devil she was, Yang grinned saucily. "Maybe. Does this mean you're actually going to show me?"

Blake held her stare for a short moment before she wordlessly brought her hand between her legs again. She saw the blonde's mischievous expression take a dive into focused interest, embers of lust flaring again in her eyes. A smile spread across the faunus's features, thrilled with how engrossed her partner was with seeing this. She slowly pushed two fingers inside herself, humming gently. So watching was one of those things Yang liked, huh? Blake  _did_ remember how intently the brawler had observed her face when she had been grinding against her thigh earlier.

Blake decided to indulge her for a moment, allowing her to watch as she leisurely pleasured herself. With each motion of her hand, she thrust her hips slowly, and Yang looked positively mesmerized. Satisfied with her apparent power over her hypnotized partner, Blake nevertheless started craving  _more_. Yang's fingers inside of her that morning had felt  _so much better_  than this and her need was starting to ferociously devour her. With a moist finger, she traced a line down Yang's torso, between her breasts, on her stomach. "You've had your fun. How about you make good on that promise and take care of me?"

And instantly Yang's hand was between her legs, searching her flesh. Blake exhaled heavily; she kneeled up a little higher to leave her some maneuvering space and rocked along with the rubbing motion of her partner's fingers. She closed her eyes relishing in the caresses as Yang's other hand found her breast, her waist, her hips. Blake's blood was unquestionably boiling, she felt her fingers sliding in, her palm pressed to her clit for added stimulation as she curled her fingers. She bit back a moan, following Yang's hand with a roll of her hips, cracking her eyes open to look down on the other woman's body through the darkness.

Yang's generous breasts were forced together by her position, one hand between Blake's legs and the other resting on the faunus's hip. Her proportions were absurdly perfect with her slender waist and broad hips while the glistening of her skin served to faintly outline muscles when she moved, when she breathed. Her complexion was still flushed from her orgasm, her blonde mane was a happy mess and her eyes were so dilated with arousal they looked to be an bottomless abyss of desire staring up at her. How beautiful. Blake exhaled with lust. Something primal was slowly invading her… an unfamiliar,  _savage_ desire to possess her partner.

With both hands she reached for her arms, pulling, making her understand to sit up. The shift forced Blake back to straddle her lap and Yang took the opportunity to add a third finger. Blake groaned a shaky, high-pitched whimper, her thrusting becoming more and more heated. Both her arms came around Yang's shoulders and her mouth found her neck to mark her skin, to leave bruises, evidence, a testament of the passion utterly consuming her.

Yang made that noise again, somewhere between a chuckle and a moan, and if the faunus hadn't already felt absolutely wild with desire, she definitely did now. She gripped her desperately, tightening her embrace to the point she would have been afraid to hurt anyone else. She pressed against her as if she wanted to fuse their bodies, rocking her hips in rhythm with her partner's caresses. She was  _so_ close.

"Come on, kitten…. say my name," she whispered in her ear.

Blake pressed her face in her neck, mostly lost in the sensations, but she did  _not_  feel like being teased now. "Shut up."

She could hear her grin in her voice. "What, can't focus?" Yang audaciously shot back.

Blake growled. Though she had very much enjoyed Yang's vocal feedback earlier, her current teasing had distracted her enough that she lost her rush… and Blake was beginning to  _aggressively_  need release. She pushed her back down fairly brutally, following over her on all fours.

Opting not to resist, Yang gave a cheeky laugh. "…I love it when you're feisty," she excitedly breathed.

In other circumstances, Blake might have wondered if she should ask for consent for what she was about to do, but something visceral possessed her and she found herself moving up. Maybe she had gone ahead because, somewhere at the back of her mind, she trusted her partner would stop her if she was uncomfortable, on top of the fact that she  _really_ didn't want to hear another word, not until she got release.

The faunus held her down as she crawled up and Yang looked confused until Blake positioned herself to kneel over her head. Somehow only now that it was too late was she suddenly overtaken with the impression that the blonde may not have wanted to do this for her. Feeling her partner's hands on her thighs, gliding on her skin, inciting her to lower herself a bit more was such relief.

Her lips gently touched her, tentatively traveling along burning, dripping flesh. Then it was her tongue and Blake's breath caught in her throat. Glancing down to see her partner's face between her legs made her shudder with pleasure, heat flaring up in the pit of her stomach again. With a trembling hand, she brushed away some unruly golden bangs sticking to her face with sweat. Yang hummed in a pleased tone and what had started with only hesitant sampling turned into enthusiastic exploration, licking, searching for a pleasing pattern and the right tempo. Blake cued her in with soft moaning and lightly moving her hips, cautious at first not to smother her yet quickly losing control over the primal thrust incited by the suctions she felt. Yang opened her mouth wide, gorged on her flesh greedily, rubbed her tongue against the swollen nub. Both her arms were wrapped around Blake's thighs, pulling her harder against her mouth as she pushed her tongue deeper in her.

By now Blake panted harshly, her fingers clumsily rummaged through the tangled blonde hair, she curved her back and perhaps she was arching it now, and her skin was so slick with sweat it rolled down her spine. Yang's tongue found the opening again and Blake grinded against her, unable to remember she wanted to be mindful of letting her breath. Her own breath was running out anyways, her heart raced and her head was spinning. She felt her hands reach up to caress her stomach and hips, going to her ass to encourage her thrust. A short moment later her body was racked by an almost violent convulsion and she came to a stop. For a brief moment everything went blank; Blake was losing her senses. She felt her consciousness slipping. Pure ecstasy. Maybe her eyes rolled back, she knew she opened her mouth but if she made a sound it was muted to her ears.

When she started to come to, the first thing she was aware of was her loud purring. Then, how she was clutching the headboard of the bed to prop herself up. She was ready to collapse, drained and quivering from the intensity of the orgasm. Finally the rest of the world faded back in and she was aware of how Yang gently kissed the inside of her thigh, massaging them as well as her buttocks in very large, soothing motions. Blake caressed her face, drawing her eyes up along with her attention and shakily released the headboard, slowly moving off. She was immensely glad Yang helped her; she felt so feeble she barely trusted herself to move.

She tiredly settled down next to the blonde and arms around her waist pulled her in, cradling her. Eyes closed, exhaling contently, she pressed her forehead against her torso, nuzzling into her, and felt Yang's chin rest on top of her head. Blake couldn't help the smile on her lips when she felt fingers gently scratching behind a cat ear. They cuddled in silence for what seemed to Blake like blissful eternity.

She probably had dozed off for a while, because her skin was dry when she opened her eyes again and she didn't remember having disentangled herself from her partner. Even through the darkness, the first thing she saw was amethyst riveted on her features. Her own voice sounded more sluggish than she expected when she opened her mouth. "How long was I out?"

Yang's gaze seemed impenetrable. "Maybe half an hour, give or take."

She frowned lightly, squinting her sleepy eyes. "Have you been staring at my face all that time?"

"Not  _all_ that time, your body is gorgeous too."

Blake didn't know how to answer her.

They both lied on their side, facing each other and all she could do was gaze back at her in silence. Yang seemed uncharacteristically pensive. The dark haired faunus might otherwise have been worried, but her partner's eyes still held a warmth and kindness that was reassuring.

Blake wondered what then. Was it time to talk? Who was Yang to her now? Still only her partner and friend? Or more? Or… would this not happen again? She would have given anything to have a glimpse at the blonde's mind. She searched the gorgeous amethyst eyes for any trace of the longing she knew often reflected in her own gaze when she found herself observing her partner. But Yang simply stared back, and Blake was completely unable to decipher any emotion beyond her thoughtful mask.

It was Yang who finally broke the silence. "…I can't just stop this when we'll be back at Beacon."

"We don't have to stop. We can find moments," Blake quietly answered, relieved that whatever this was wasn't about to end anytime soon.

"Though I don't know how we'll manage, never being alone and all…" The blonde sighed lightly. She propped her elbow up and leaned her head in her hand, still turned towards her. "Think we should tell Ruby and Weiss? It'd make it easier if we want some time alone."

She swiftly made a run-down of scenarios in her head, and Blake decided that unless they were to be more than… this, she wasn't quite comfortable with letting their teammates know about what happened. "…No. I believe it'd be better not to tell them for now."

Yang hummed pensively. "It's a shame," she said. A radiant smile spread on her lips and she reached out to gently caress her cheek. "You're breathtaking when you got that satisfied glow. Makes me wish I could tell the world."

Her heart seemed to stop for a second and Blake couldn't hold her gaze. "…I don't think anyone needs to know what I look like after sex," she breathed.

Yang laughed. "I didn't mean it like that. I meant… I don't know, I was watching you sleep, and I felt so good, so happy it felt like my heart was ready to explode and I guess that's what wants to come out. Wanting to tell everyone how you-….how…" Her expression as she spoke had slowly seemed to lose its amused quality, as if she was perplexed herself with the words she found herself saying. Her tone had also grown much softer as she finished her sentence. "…How…you make me feel."

Blake searched her features through the darkness, troubled. She didn't expect this at all, and she was scared to be reading more in her words than there actually was. "I'm still unsure what you're trying to say."

Her voice was very quiet. "…It's okay, I'm not really sure what I mean to say either."

It was almost painful how thousands of emotions seemed to surge forward in her heart, in her chest, in her head, and Blake wanted to scream, she wanted to confess everything,  _everything_.

How no one ever got under her skin the way the blonde did, how she had desperately wished that Yang had offered her more than one dance that night, how she had hoped her partner would be bothered by seeing her so constantly with the faunus boy, how  _every_  night, her faint breathing on the bunk bed above hers almost drove Blake mad, and how—…

How she had believed her own darkness to be impenetrable, yet somehow this blazing sun's light had seeped through the cracks. This light had roused her from a seemingly interminable nightmare the White Fang had plunged her in. She wanted to tell her how in these last months spent with her, she had been made to feel like she wasn't the irredeemable monster she thought she had become, that she could dream of a future to look forward to, of a place where she belonged, of being happy. She burned to confess how especially now, after having been consumed by her fire, after feeling like she had embraced the sun itself, she couldn't be more certain of her feelings. She couldn't take the blame for falling so deeply in love, it wasn't her fault. They were perfectly complementary and Blake was led to believe they were meant to be a whole. Night and day, light and shadows.

….Although, this was exactly why she couldn't find it in herself to say a word. Because in truth, who needs darkness? It was only a foolish romantic fantasy to think that for harmony to exist, it needed equal parts of brightness and obscurity. Why would someone so  _radiant_  bind themselves to any form of darkness? …How could this burning, golden beauty ever settle for a beast barely emerging from shadows? It would be an unfair arrangement, wouldn't it?

Blake believed she already was undoubtedly transgressing a number of unspoken rules by indulging in what Yang was offering her. It would be unreasonable,  _absurd_  to long for even more, especially when she didn't see what she had to offer in return.

Somehow, even through her inner conflict, Blake managed to keep a cool demeanor. Yang, on the contrary, seemed to be visibly struggling with the confusion her own words brought.

"I'm sorry if I don't make much sense," the brawler offered. "I just…" She sighed. "I just never even realized that… …I mean…" This time she groaned. Manifestly, she was straining very hard to figure out even herself what she wanted to say. "I always thought you were stunning.  _Gorgeous_. But somehow I never... somehow it took having you in my arms this morning to recognize that…" she chuckled in apparent disbelief. " _Somehow_  before this morning I didn't understand that when I looked at you and I stopped in my track, and I'd forget what I was doing because you were so  _damn_  beautiful…. _Somehow_ , I know it's ridiculous, but I hadn't realized that all that was attraction."

Yang's gaze then drifted down, seemingly lost. "And right now, well. I'm still a bit shocked… both that I'm feeling this way  _and_ that I never realized I was feeling this way." Her head snapped up to look at her. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not ashamed of being attracted to you…but I… just… I'm at loss. I'm surprising myself, I wasn't aware of this part of me."

The faunus felt guilt quickly leaden her stomach. Yang kept apologizing and was currently doing her absolute best to explain herself, her thoughts, her actions, all this in vain… while Blake, who knew very well where she stood, had made up her mind not to say anything.

"You don't have to strain yourself to try and explain," she gently offered. "Whatever you feel or want, how you are…don't feel pressured to justify yourself or have any answers… especially not if you're pressuring yourself to have answers  _for me_. If you can't explain right now… well you just can't." She saw visible relief on Yang's features as she listened to her, and it made her smile a little. "I really don't want you to agonize over… over what? Making it right by me?" She searched eyes. "It's not like  _I'm_  offering  _you_  any explanations either. You're not the only culprit in this room."

As she reminded her of this, realization seemed to hit Yang at once. "….Right, you're right," she acknowledged and it looked to Blake like the blonde was making  _tremendous_  efforts not to ask, not to pry now that she realized Blake was not even trying to talk. "I'm sorry, you're absolutely right. I know I'm the one who brought up the subject, but… yeah, let's not talk about all that just now." She gave a bit of an awkward laugh. "Doesn't help I'm so tired I'm confusing even myself."

"Yeah…"

Yang then shifted uncomfortably. "Are you going to kick me out of your bed? …I know it's a tight fit, but I'd really… would rather stay with you."

Blake moved closer again gently taking her arm. "Stay," she immediately requested. "Please, stay."

Smiling, Yang eagerly pulled her into another strong embrace, snuggling up to her. The faunus nestled against her chest, thankful for the warmth and affection. Soon enough they would be back at Beacon and they wouldn't be able to share this sort of intimacy, even just sleeping in each other's arms would prove difficult. Blake would miss it.

**tbc-**


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I originally posted this chapter on ff.net, it used to be 10 066 words, it is now 14 354 ... This revision is not a joke :')

It had been a week now. A full week since they had been back from that fateful mission. Seven _complete_ days since Yang had last been able to be alone with her partner for any decent amount of time. The most they had managed had been stealing kisses here and there. The whole team living in a single-room dorm and attending mostly the same classes would do that.

The blonde thought she was slowly going insane; it was becoming increasingly clear to her that until now, she had never known what it truly meant to desire someone. Blake occupied every second of her wakeful thoughts and then again every single one of the dreams she did remember. She had never experienced something like this before.

…Yet what did that mean about herself? Was she really ready to call herself… what? Call herself what? Whatever label she would use didn't matter until she had addressed the question of whether or not she was ready to call herself anything but heterosexual. Though even if she wasn't ready… she had no choice but to concede it. She may never had wanted another woman before Blake, but she also never had wanted _anyone_ as much as Blake.

And if that in and of itself wasn't terrifying enough, she'd then think… What would her father say? What would _Ruby_ think? Would she be disgusted? If it were to come out… would she lose a lot of friends? What about Weiss? Weiss had a problem with faunus at first, so what about this? And people would definitely gossip, wouldn't they? She didn’t care much what strangers would say and the risk of getting being bullied didn't scare her; she knew she could stand up for herself… but what about _Blake_?

Blake hid being a faunus not only to avoid drawing attention to herself, but also because she'd already been on the receiving end of baseless cruelty. The thought of causing Blake to endure any more hardships made her stomach turn. Even just a fleeting thought of anyone causing her partner the smallest amount of pain made her skin flare up with her semblance's fiery anger. She’d always been protective of her loved ones, but she'd noticed that somewhere along the line, she had started to react excessively when it came to Blake. Not only that… it all came disproportionately quicker and even more violently than it ever had, even compared to how defensive she'd always been of Ruby.

She'd also noticed how she constantly felt _exceedingly_ sensitive to Blake's presence; as if her senses were heightened. She was distressingly aware of every single thing about her faunus partner, every movement, every twitch of her cat ears under her bow, every _breath_.

While incredibly upsetting, it was almost comical how now that she wanted to touch her more than ever, she felt so self-conscious about doing so that she couldn't bring herself to indulge in any type of contact at all. Before, she wouldn't have thought twice about casually throwing her arm around Blake's shoulders, taking her hand to guide her if she was too engrossed in a book to stop reading as she walked, or just untangling her dark curls with her fingers. Yet now, knowing they couldn't let anything on…Yang didn't even dare simply reaching out to her anymore, afraid that a gesture as negligible as a fleeting touch on her arm would wake the fire in their eyes. Afraid that a featherlike contact, a simple brush of their skin would fully rouse their urges. It was so bad that Yang feared that if she even just as much as _stood next to her_ , her fascination with Blake would be so glaringly obvious to everyone that they'd be found out.

At this point, even making eye contact proved difficult; every time it happened, Yang struggled to withstand an almost irrepressible surge of desire, all the while doing her best to keep a cool facade. And every time she would miraculously swallow down her lust, all the while wondering if at some point she wouldn't be able to look away, if sooner or later the always increasingly heavily charged air would betray them.

She yearned so much for anything, _anything_ at all, touching her hand, leaning against her, really, _anything_ would have helped appease her aching, but she still found herself resisting her instincts. She still found herself avoiding any contact, interactions which used to be so commonplace… because given how desperately she craved them, none of it felt innocent anymore. Any sort of physical contact with Blake sent her reeling, jolted her body to a state she should never find herself in while out it public and she knew would anyone pay attention, they’d incontestably see through her. Hence, she couldn’t. She _couldn’t_ touch her.

Every hour that went by, she was tormented by her need to close the distance between them, which was without fail made always more painful the closer Blake physically was.

Above all, Yang would do her very best not to constantly stare at her, but her silhouette out of the corner of her eye was magnetic and, like an itch, like a bad habit, her eyes would inevitably drift to her partner again. Not to mention… in spite of her best efforts, with each passing day her gaze, she knew, was becoming increasingly inappropriate.

She'd catch herself fixated on the immaculate skin of her thighs exposed between her uniform skirt and black knee socks. She'd follow up her long legs and find herself downright hypnotized by the way her hips swayed as she walked. She'd stare at her perfectly shaped lips, her heart skipping a beat every time they parted, remembering their softness as she kissed her, the way she sounded panting for breath, envisioning how she had brought her fingers to mouth to suck on them. And Yang would exhale a shivering sigh, trying so hard to cleanse her thoughts.

However, even when she managed this, she'd still find herself captivated by insignificant little things about her faunus partner; the way she'd tap her pencil to those lips when she studied or the way she'd delicately tuck a strand of silky black hair behind one of her ears while she read one of her corny ninja novels. She struggled to not walk over, tear the book out of her hands, straddle her lap and _demand_ her full attention. _Oh_ , the memory of Blake’s lips on her skin, of her hands on her body…!

Yang would scrutinize her graceful movements, in awe at how everything about Blake seemed weightless, evocative of her feline heritage. It was especially apparent during the mock battles in sparring classes, every motion incredibly smooth, elegant, precise, every hit sharp and with purpose, Blake took down every target effortlessly. But what impressed the brawler most was how this refinement, this fluidity transpired even in mundane trivialities such as when Blake fixed up her bow or delicately applied her makeup.

Though all this paled in comparison to how hard her obsession manifested itself again at night, when she listened to her teammates fall asleep. Yang would close her eyes, yearning for the respite her once typically dreamless nights offered, only to find herself haunted by memories of Blake's naked body. Locks of jet black hair gliding like silk on her contrasting pale skin, pert and flawlessly shaped breasts rising with every harsh breath she'd take, a svelte frame that had felt so delicate in her arms but somehow concealed utmost deadliness. Most of all she would remember the alluring glow in her hypnotizing golden eyes as she'd licked her lips. Those lips… the featherlike touch of them on Yang's stomach, or her tongue, as she shamelessly pushed it inside of her. Of course, Yang would then toss and turn for hours, trying to ward away the images… struggling with the phantom sensations of her fingers and mouth, all the while _knowing_ that Blake lied in the bed just underneath hers and that it would be _so easy_ to come down and join her.

The only consolation she found was that she knew her yearning was definitely reciprocated; after all, she constantly felt herself being watched. Dared she look, she would without fail catch those endless pools of gold studying her and when that happened, when they'd lock gazes, the electricity in the air made her heart beat so hard her breath would catch in her throat. Those gorgeous eyes, lit up as they were with flagrant desire, taunted her, challenged her, and what little self-control Yang possessed threatened to completely give way.

Constantly, she would ponder… how long? How long before her own gaze is blatant enough that everyone sees what's going on? How long before the simple sound of Blake's voice as she pronounced her name had her so completely flustered she'd be unable to keep her composure, even in public? How long before she finds herself ramming her partner in a wall without caring whether or not they risked getting caught? …Essentially, how long before she utterly lost it?

It was on that eighth night that she'd reached her saturation point. Yang glanced over again at Ruby's sleeping form and down at the adjacent bed, double checking Weiss was also asleep before she dared opening her mouth.

"…Blake, are you still awake?"

"Hmm," was the only answer she received.

"…I can't take it anymore," she whispered almost inaudibly.

There was a long silence before she heard her partner's voice again, she didn't sound as lethargic this time around. "It's not any easier on me, but…"

The blonde sat up, restless. She wanted to roll over, jump down and pin Blake to her bed with her body. She wanted to rip her clothes to shreds, devour her lips, reclaim every single inch of her body and goad pleased sighs out of her again. Yet, Yang knew that despite how much Blake would welcome this, it just couldn't happen right now. She wouldn't be able to look her sister in the eye again were she to do anything this inappropriate with Ruby sleeping in the same room.

…Though the blonde truly could _not_ go any longer with this self-imposed distance. "Can I just… lie with you for a while? I won't do anything."

"Not even kiss me?"

It was not even a second, Yang was down from her bed and in her arms crashing her lips to hers. Blake had sat up and fiercely pulled her in, returning her kiss with every ounce of passion. They might have worried about their harsh breaths and muffled moans if they weren't so starved for each other. The blonde's hands hurriedly searched her partner's body again, craving to remember her flesh, her slender shape, her velvety skin. She caressed her breast through her clothing, the same way she had when she first had taken the liberty to touch her. Blake gasped, interrupting their kiss.

"No, Yang, no," she whispered, though immediately she claimed her lips again and Blake's own hands caressed her partner's naked thighs.

It was Yang's turn to whine softly, breaking away from the faunus. "I know. Even just doing this, we could get caught and yet…" She hated how desperate she sounded but couldn't help the tone of her voice. Yang had to remind herself of her baby sister sleeping in the same room. She cursed how they had decided it would be for the best to hide. She cursed how hard it was not to longingly stare at her, how much of a dilemma simply taking her hand had become. Yang felt like she was starting to thread on the edge of madness. Her hands were in the dark hair, she searched those beautiful golden orbs as if they held the remedies to all her woes. "This distance with you is _killing_ me," she confessed miserably.

Blake held her gaze, her hands coming to a halt, resting on her legs just where the fabric of her pajama shorts met her skin. "I also thought I would handle this better," she started, exhaling a shivering sigh. "God, Yang...I can't look your way without wanting… to just…" Blake held her breath, her cat ears flattened themselves backwards in discomfiture. "…If you knew what goes through my head when I look at you…"

Her mouth found her partner's again and Yang savored another lengthy kiss. "Tell me," she whispered against her lips, so hungry for anything and everything of her. “I’ll make it happen, I’ll do _anything_ you want.” She felt ready to do anything, ready to submit to anything if Blake wanted it.

Blake inhaled shakily, evidently stirred by the proposition. Her fingers on her thighs dug into her flesh lightly, as if she struggled to prevent them from going any further. "Not now,” she eventually murmured. “It isn't wise right now. Even just talking about it would do nothing but worsen the situation, wouldn't it?" She rationalized before pressing her mouth to hers again, very gently biting the blonde's lower lip as she pulled away.

With her fingers gently combing her hair, she managed to keep from the temptation of her body again. "We have to find some alone time… and soon. Or we might as well forget trying to hide, I can barely handle myself around you already," she murmured.

Blake nodded faintly. "I agree….If we keep going like this it will only be a matter of time before the whole world figures it out," she sighed, leaning her head into her touch.

Yang relished in being able to caress her this way. She kept untangling the dark locks in a slow movement. "…Shouldn't we just..." she started, but didn't actually know how to finish her sentence. She groaned. "…Would it be weird to ask them to leave us the room for a few hours…?"

"…Weird? I guess not if we have a credible excuse. If _they_ asked _us_ to leave them the room for a few hours, wouldn't you be curious what for?"

"I guess…" the blonde reluctantly allowed.

The faunus moved a little closer, her hands still on her partner's thighs were tracing the edge of the shorts in a gentle caress. "If we refuse to tell them what for… you know your sister. I wouldn't put it past her to try and peek or somehow find out why we need the room for ourselves."

The image of Ruby walking in on them flashed through her mind. " _Oh god_ , no," Yang blurted in horror. She took a deep breath, trying to shake the thought as fast as possible. Blake leaned her head in her hands to remind her she was petting her hair. She didn’t know if it had been the goal, but it successfully redirected her attention and the blonde smiled gently, scratching behind her cat ears. "So… if we ask, we do need an excuse. One that would be good enough to ensure they're absolutely gone for a couple hours."

Blake closed her eyes, looking incredibly serene. "What do you propose we say?"

She didn't know how to answer. Every pretext she thought up didn't seem solid enough of an excuse. Except of course telling the truth… But _that_ , they definitely couldn't do, not with the questions that would certainly ensue. Yang most definitely didn't have any answers yet. Not for Ruby and Weiss, not for Blake, not even for herself.

Because really…what _was_ this?

Beyond this incredibly powerful attraction, which the blonde was just freshly coming to terms with, the immensity of what flooded her when it came to the dark haired faunus was indescribable. The magnitude of it all terrified her and she felt like a spineless coward for not being able to bring herself to confront it just yet. It didn't feel like herself at all to be so unable to own up to whatever it was she was feeling but every time she found herself threading near her own truth, she was plagued, _assaulted_ with millions of distressing thoughts which would inevitably send her on a downward spiral. Never mind her own identity crisis, never mind her concern over Ruby's opinion over what may come out of that very identity crisis, it was _nothing_ compared to the anxiety she felt over the prospect of _anything_ going wrong with her partner.

Blake, who had initially been so distant with them, who used to be withdrawn, who had been a complete enigma, had slowly been opening up over the last months. Yang would never forgive herself if because of her rash, impulsive behavior, because of her _dumbly_ following what had then been only a whim, curiosity, she ended up hurting her or causing her to shut down again.

The blonde wasn't aware of the details, but she'd known her partner had suffered through a lot and, of course, how it had left her emotionally fragile. If anything went wrong….she risked losing Blake entirely, didn't she? After all, the dark haired woman herself had confessed to dealing with problems by running from them. And the thought of Blake turning her back on her was so, _so_ painful… Whenever Yang would attempt to assess where they now stood, her thought process would without fail end up a derailing into being shattered by these fears and she would then find herself back to square one.

Yet, all those questions kept assailing her. Could she not find any way to qualify this at all? _Anything_ to give herself some sort of waypoint…? Outside of the obvious aspect of their relationship not being platonic anymore, did anything else change? Was this what they called friends with benefits? Would she still describe Blake as nothing more than her best friend and partner if she had to label their relationship? Would Blake label it the same way? …Was it still _really_ all there was?

Yang's hands slowly slid out of the dark locks of hair, instead she entwined her fingers with the hands resting on her thighs. Blake's gaze fell on them for a second, stroking the back of Yang’s hands with her thumbs. Then, her gorgeous golden eyes flowed up from their joined hands slowly. Flagrant desire reflected in them as she overtly studied the brawler’s body and as her stare finally settled on her features, the shiver-inducing lust somewhat gave way to betray a different sort of yearning.

 _No_ . _This isn't all there is._ Yang had to concede. _Something else changed, Blake doesn't look at me the way she used to._

This thought abruptly provoked another one, a very intrusive one, reminding her that maybe it was _she_ who, until very recently, had simply been unable to recognize what had been in Blake’s eyes.

After all, everything pointed to this potentially having been there at least long enough for the faunus to make peace with herself about it, seeing as Blake had never looked confused through what happened and had moreover gone along with it entirely readily from the very start. Yang could only wonder… since when had she failed to notice what the other woman had been yearning for…? And… what _was_ she yearning for, exactly…?

Through all this and after a moment of silence, Blake now stared at her expectantly. The blonde sighed. "…Honestly, I have no idea what to tell them, that would have them leave. Except the truth…which is out of question right now."

She could have sworn Blake looked disheartened. Her golden eyes drifted back down to their joined hands and she gave a gentle, encouraging squeeze. "I thought so."

Something twinged at her heart and Yang leaned even closer to touch their foreheads together. "…What is it? Have you changed your mind? Do you… you think we should be straightforward with this?"

"No." Blake gave a sigh and moved a few inches back, away from her. "I still think it's best for us to stay discreet with…" she paused and her cat ears twitched. "…Well, with whatever we're doing is."

And just like that, Yang was hit again with the reminder that Blake was not even trying to offer her any kind of insight concerning her feelings. Worse; was she maybe… actively avoiding it? Would she give any answers to the questions which burned Yang’s tongue, were she to ask any of them…?

' _What is this to you, Blake?'_ She couldn’t help but wonder. _'If it was only up to you… would you tell them? Just what would you tell them? Who am I to you now…? Who do you want me to be to you…? Where do you want it to go? Why don't you ask me what I want for…us? Are you scared of the answer…?_ '

Yang could do nothing but swallow it all down. Despite her excessive curiosity, she couldn't voice any of her concerns. Not only did she know it was unfair to ask when she couldn't will herself to even start _thinking_ about her own answers, but… moreover and above all, she already suspected what asking may open the door to.

A little voice at the back of Yang's mind nagged that there _had_ to be a reason Blake both abstained to press for answers and omitted to talk about her own feelings. The blonde couldn't help deducing from this that… if Blake let her be the judge of the pace at which they talked about this, it simply was because Blake already knew what it was she wanted and exactly where she stood. She was waiting for Yang to be ready to talk and, for now, given how uncertain Yang showed herself… Blake didn't seem to think it wise to disclose anything to her. Yang had an alarmingly clear notion of what all this may imply.

With every moment, she came more and more aware of just how precarious the situation may turn out to be. She toyed with the idea that maybe it would be best for her not to indulge in this anymore until she had sorted herself out. Until she could at least offer Blake something tangible about how she felt, about what she wanted this to become. Until she was able to show Blake she wasn't acting only on impulse and that she _did_ care where all this lead them, how all this could affect her.

…Until she sorted herself enough for Blake to trust she could confide in Yang what it was that she was keeping to herself.

Yang thought that maybe refraining from touching her, trying to abstain from ogling her the way she'd been, not giving into the desire to melt in her arms as soon as the opportunity presented itself might be fairer to them both. At least until she was ready to move forward. But who was she kidding... she couldn't stop. It was so incredibly selfish, she knew, but she didn't _want_ to. She might not even have been able bring herself to stop if she'd actively wished to.

Her eyes travelled on the moonlit outline of her partner's shape, to her beautiful golden eyes shining in the darkness and with her whole being Yang felt a magnetic, _irresistible_ pull to her. She scooted closer again and drew her in a strong embrace which was promptly answered. The head of dark hair nestled in the crook of her neck.

She exhaled a heavy, shaking breath. Blake's enthralling scent calmed the storm of emotions she felt but only by drowning it in a single consuming one; distressingly powerful lust. The fists gripping loosely the fabric at the back of the faunus's nightwear clenched tighter, struggling to prevent her hands from exploring what the thin garment concealed. Unmistakable heat flared in her core, impetuously spreading through her body again, taking possession of her. And as if she'd known all this—no, she most _definitely_ knew all this— Blake's lips were now on her skin. Delicate caresses on her back, going up to her shoulders and feather soft kisses on her collarbone were blissful torture. With her eyelids heavy, the rhythm of her heart resonating through her, the blonde wanted nothing more than to melt into her. "I can't resist if you do this." Her hushed voice was strained.

"Of course you'll resist, you don't want to go too far since we're not alone..." her feline partner countered in a murmur before drawing her into an ardent kiss.

Her fears and doubts completely forgotten, she without hesitation reciprocated with matching fervor. Somehow, she found it in herself not to push Blake down on the bed, but her embrace loosened and her hands found themselves on her thin waist or down on her hips, and how were they now caressing her thighs? The blonde couldn't help but think the other woman had way too much faith in her. After all, Yang was certainly notorious for her _lack_ of self-control.

"Yang," Blake whispered again between kisses, and Yang could feel her partner's smile against her lips as her hands were gently being pushed away from her bare skin.

The brawler tried to shake herself out of it, get a grip at least somewhat. Her eyes fluttered open for an instant, swiftly studying the other woman's features in an inflamed, passionate glimpse. "You're right, sorry..." she weakly agreed before pressing her lips to hers again but more gently.

Blake's answer was especially tender, abstaining from deepening the kiss. Her fingers softly brushed against her cheek before losing themselves in the golden locks. The faunus's restraint was an obvious effort to tame her partner's ardors while still indulging in some intimacy, and yet somehow, how considerate and careful she was being made Yang even more powerless against the profound yearning she felt for her. She _wanted_ her. So much that the world around them was fading out and her clouded mind again lost track of their surroundings and she desperately needed her closer. Yang hauled her on to her lap as she pushed her tongue in her mouth. Blake's muffled moan muddied her judgment even more, plunging her yet further away from sanity, and she hugged her closer, one hand hurriedly finding her breast again. Her partner seized her wrist, stopping her for the third time now.

"Yang." Blake sounded amused despite the warning tone of her voice.

Giving a dismayed sigh, she pitifully gazed up at her partner. Staring into this mesmerizing, ignited gold only served to sear her desires further into her and it took everything for her not to latch at Blake again. "I don't even realize what I'm doing before you stop me!" She defended, dismayed. She knew she sounded nothing like her usual self and she hated being so unable to project her customary self-assurance. "I don't know what's happening to me…." she then confessed in a faint, uncertain voice. Yang could never have imagined that restraining her caresses would prove to be such a trying ordeal.

Unmoving from her lap, Blake very gently cupped her face with both hands. She plunged her gaze in hers, searching her eyes for God knows what… Yang didn't dare try to read the look she was giving her. The dark haired faunus slowly caressed her partner’s cheeks with both thumbs. "What do you mean, you don't know what's happening to you? Have you never wanted anyone?"

"Of course I have. It's just…not like this," the blonde admitted. "I mean… you know. I told you. I've dated, fooled around but…" She let out a short laugh in disbelief. "This. _This_ , Blake I've never had.” No one she had ever been with before had ever obsessed her this way; she almost felt like an outside force was dictating her actions. Yang could not break eye contact with the woman nestled against her. “I’d never understood how some guys would let themselves be completely controlled by their dicks, but when I’m with you… really, suddenly I completely get it. I can't think with my brain _at all_."

Blake turned very slowly, repositioning herself from simply sitting on her lap to straddling her. "…You've never felt like this before?"

"Never," Yang sighed for the umpteenth time. "This is… controlling me." She hugged Blake a little closer and leaned her forehead on her shoulder, closing her eyes. She felt her partner's arms come around her neck and her head leaning against hers. Enveloped in her as she was, leaning into her inviting and warm body, overwhelmed with her dizzyingly delicious scent, she felt subjugated. Her hands dropped to Blake's thighs as she was astride of her, but she didn't dare move them further. Yang chuckled again. "Can you feel that? It's so bad my hands are shaking…"

Blake kissed the side of her head gently and moved closer to her ear. "I feel it," she confirmed. Her voice was hushed, her breath was hot. "I want you too, so, _so_ bad," she murmured, lips brushing against her ear. "The way you've been looking at me since then has been driving me crazy. When you speak my name, it feels like my body is bursting into flames." As she said this, she rocked her hips faintly. With the provocative movement, Yang's hands twitched on her naked thighs. Blake pressed closer, nestling her head in the crook of her neck for her lips to burn her skin. "All I can think of is how it felt when you were on top of me, the sounds you made when my fingers were inside you… how I want your legs wrapped around my head again…"

A powerful shiver travelled down her spine; Yang felt lightheaded. Every tedious breath she managed was quivering. "…You're going to make me lose my mind," she reproached. Her fingers were starting to have a mind of their own again, crawling up Blake's legs to her ass, searching her body again.

"That's only fair, you're making me lose mine," she countered, allowing the other woman’s hands to wander this time around.

Yang clutched her fiercely, _needing_ to feel her with her entire body. This sensation was the only thing that could help the gaping void inside of her, the desperation she felt to somehow release this blaze devouring her. Her warmth and her scent and the way she faintly thrust her hips again had her delirious. Yang once more couldn’t seem to remember that she shouldn't lay her on the bed. After all, in what world could it be a bad thing to just lie down on top of her? And maybe just kiss her again, they had been kissing earlier and it was fine, right? Blake was such a good kisser, it was almost criminal. How was Yang expected not to want to come back for more every chance she got?

Blake's fingers found the hem of her loose orange top, her hands slipping underneath to caress her back. Yang's mouth fell on her neck and as she sucked gently, Blake gasped, nails digging into her back. It fired her up like a match thrown into gasoline and the blonde wanted nothing more than skin against skin. With this last straw, Yang couldn't find it in herself to deny her urges anymore; quickly her lips dropped to what skin her kimono coming undone had exposed of her chest. Her hands found her partner's thighs; the skin was so delicate, supple, softer than both silk and velvet, and yet in her unreeling passion Yang gripped her flesh downright savagely. She forced her legs open to move herself down between them.

"If you _truly_ want to go ahead, I won’t stop you," Blake's hushed, breathless voice brought her back to earth with a last warning. "I want this. I don't care that we're not alone."

And suddenly Yang remembered her sister sleeping a few feet from them. With a discouraged groan, she pushed her forehead to her stomach. How had she lost this much control? How could she keep forgetting herself this way? She just couldn't comprehend how she was so unable to restrain herself….! She felt miserable to the point of tears.

Deciding cold water may slap her back to reason, she made herself pull away, shakily standing up. She couldn't even glance at her partner, fearing she would surrender to her desires again. "Sorry, give me a second," Yang muttered under her breath, heading for the bathroom.

She ran the water and leaned against the bathroom counter with both hands, staring herself down in the mirror. She felt like a mess. She _looked_ like a mess. Her skin was flushed, humid and feverish, her eyes were dilated to a dark purple, her hair was a ruffled and tangled heap of blonde. Splashing cold water to her face did nothing to help jolt her out of her daze. There was not much to do, she had resign herself. With this, Yang took a deep breath, turned off the tap and trotted back to the room.

Blake was sitting up, in her bed, fixing her kimono. Hearing her coming had her cat ears perk up alertly. "Feeling better?"

Her partner was as alluring as ever, and Yang was incredibly displeased with how cold water had been absolutely no help with quelling what burned inside of her. "No. I'm feeling exactly the same and right now it sucks."

"Maybe you should get back to your bunk," she suggested.

Yang could tell Blake didn't want her to. She stood a few steps away from the bed, and though her head told her she should comply with her partner's advice, put an end to what they’d been doing, the intense blaze utterly devouring her body in addition to the downcast look on the faunus's features both compelled her to give a selfish answer. "…I don't want to," she protested. "I want to sleep in your bed. With you."

Her eyes lit up with what Yang would've ventured calling hope. "…I'd love for you to sleep with me."

Yang didn't step closer. "Won't it be weird if Rubes and Weiss wake up before us?"

Blake shrugged. "Coming up with an excuse won't be hard," she reasoned.

She still stared at her, standing a safe distance from their beds. "But I don't trust myself with you," the blonde dismally croaked.

For a long moment Blake observed her, seemingly weighing their options. Ultimately, she moved herself to one side of her bed and patted the mattress next to her. "…Come on."

"But I—"

"You can sleep in my bed," she cut in. "If you don't trust yourself, trust me. I won’t let it get out of hand.”

“You said you wouldn’t stop me again,” she pointed out.

Blake sighed. “I know I said that. But… I also know how you'd feel towards Ruby if we did go too far. I don't want this on your conscience,” she gently explained. “Not to mention how distracted you'd be. I want you to be all there with me when we’re finally able to do it again,” she whispered. There was gleam in her gaze that had Yang forget to breathe for a second; she just knew Blake too was picturing that moment when they would unshackle their desires.

Her dark haired partner pushed her hand in the mattress next to her, calling attention to the empty space by her side again. “I won't let you do anything we shouldn't,” she said, pleadingly. “ I'll tie you down if needed be."

Just as she said this last sentence, Blake seemed to realize her poor choice of words. Yang guessed the expression on her own face betrayed how unopposed to being tied down she was because her partner's gaze drifted down with embarrassment. "Just…get in," she muttered.

Yang obediently moved to lie down next to her, facing her. As Blake pulled the covers over them, Yang leaned in. "Are you going to tie me?"

She turned her back to her. " _Sleep_."

Though both of their bodies were in the same precarious state, how happy she was to be able to hold her eclipsed any discomfort having to restrain herself incurred. She yearned _so much_ for her that simply just sharing a bed to sleep was genuinely soothing.

She pressed against Blake's back, but didn't dare wrap her arm around her. Yang had no idea if her partner had turned her back to her because she wanted to be spooned or if it was to create enough distance for them not to get too heated again. The blonde leaned her head against her and her partner still didn't move. "Hey Blake…I'm not being too clingy am I? You can say it if you feel like I'm too much."

"…It's fine, Yang," she very quietly dismissed.

Still unconvinced, she couldn’t help insisting. "But you can say it though if you think I'm too needy, if it's suffocating," The last thing she would've wanted was for the faunus to be exasperated with her behavior.

Blake stayed motionless, seemingly doing her best to try and sleep. "I would let you know if you were a bother."

"Would you _really_ though?"

She turned just enough to glance briefly at her. "Yes," she strongly stressed. Then she turned her back to her again and took a deep breath, clearing her throat lightly. "Yang, the truth is," Blake breathed out again, this time a little shakily, betraying some uneasiness. "I'm not irritated at all, on the contrary. I’m relieved. It felt like there was an invisible wall between us this week, and I really… missed all those frequent casual touches of yours.”

“I _wanted_ to touch you,” she instantly affirmed. “I wanted so much that… that it didn’t feel casual anymore though,” she explained. Of course such a radical change wouldn’t go unnoticed. “Before, I wouldn’t have thought twice and just… been all over you.” It felt hilarious to say it like this given how though she really was always up in her space, it didn't compare to how she now _literally_ wanted to be all over her. “Now, all I can think about is… that. And I’m scared it’ll be obvious to everyone every time I’m about to touch you.”

“I thought as much,” Blake acknowledged. “But I still missed it. And I… I _really_ needed this tonight,” she confessed.

“Even though you keep having to put me back in my place?”

She gave a gentle hum of approval. “By being like that, you’re making me feel incredibly desirable, who could ever dislike that?”

“You mean you _don’t_ feel incredibly desirable all the time?” She shot, grinning to herself. “You know there isn’t a woman out there who wouldn’t kill to look _half_ as good as you.”

“You must’ve killed a lot of people to be this gorgeous,” she commented.

Yang was unable to completely stifle her laugh. “ _What_? I look like a beast next to you.”

Her voice was wry and flat. “Aren’t _I_ the beastly one?”

“Only ever when you find Zwei sleeping on your bed,” she retorted and Blake gave a quiet but undeniably amused scoff. Her own grin turned to what was probably a grossly tender smile; brightening her partner’s mood inevitably made her heart swell. She wrapped her arms around her, forgetting she had been reluctant to a moment earlier. “Blake… human or faunus, it doesn’t matter. You’re a very rare beauty. You’re _breathtaking_.”

“Such honeyed words,” Blake mused, the tone of her voice now betrayed a smile; she leaned back into her embrace. “I should’ve expected you to be such a sweet-talking lover.”

The word resonated through her and Yang felt herself blush.   _Lover._ It seemed that this one word answered about a thousand of her questions and spawned a million more. Was that what Blake was to her now? "…Is that how you would qualify our relationship?"

There was a long pause before she spoke again, almost inaudibly. "…Did you want to qualify it as something?"

" _No_ ," Yang quickly answered, then realized how negatively her partner may interpret her answer. "I mean—….I don't know," she subsequently attempted again. As the surprise of being openly confronted with the truth wore off, she had to concede Blake's choice of words wasn't incorrect. "Sorry, you're right. I guess… hearing it shocked me a bit, but if I look at all this for what it is… I don't think 'lovers' is wrong."

"Do you have a better term?" Blake gently tried.

"No," she admitted. It was so very disarming to be associating the word lover with another woman, her best friend at that, but… what was happening between her and Blake had _clearly_ crossed the line of simple friendship and this seemingly never-ending escalation of yearning absolutely ruled out trivial experimentation. _This_ , whatever it was, carried more weight than she could’ve ever anticipated and though she had no intention or desire to even think of putting an end to it... trying to decipher it was downright terrifying.

She realized she’d been holding her breath; her voice was a lot quieter when she spoke again. "…Sorry, Blake I'm just… all over the place. I'd love to sort myself out, to sort it out but I’m just so… overwhelmed. I don’t know what I’m doing, I don’t know what to think,” she confessed.  She leaned her forehead against her back, silently inhaling the enticing scent of her hair. It only served to remind her how crushingly overwhelming her urges were.  “Of course I can't deny I…” she puffed out a quivering breath, “I _want_ you. I want you like I didn’t know it was possible to want someone else. And I hope you know I care so, _so_ much about you… and it's just…” Her hands, she now noticed as she gently ran her fingers on her arm, were still quivering albeit almost imperceptibly. “It’s so much to take in. It’s intimidating. And I don’t want to be reckless, I've been reckless enough as it is," she tried explaining. She did realize she was being very much ambiguous, but she truly didn’t know where all this may lead or what it meant to go there… or where Blake wanted to go anyways. "For what it's worth… I'm really sorry." Her hand trailed from her arm, down her side to her waist to rest there.

"For what?"

Her voice was thick with something Yang couldn't recognize and the blonde’s tone was very careful as she answered her. "Being confusing…?"

"Oh."

Blake's retorts felt heavy and with how terse they’d been, the blonde was coldly awashed with an alarming sense of distance. She dearly hoped her jumbled mess of an explanation didn’t hurt her partner; Blake suddenly felt so far away. There was a long pause in which the blonde agonized over whether or not she should say something more, if whatever she would say more would only make matters worse, if it would only make the dark haired faunus withdraw more.

It was Blake who ended up breaking the silence. "…I’m sorry if I used a word I shouldn’t have, I didn’t mean to precipitate anything on you,” she offered. Yang instantly abhorred the very concept of the other woman withdrawing the word ‘lovers’ from them, though she couldn’t find it in herself to voice it out loud before Blake continued. “And don’t apologize for being mixed up. You don’t have to explain, I understand where you're coming from,” she said as she reached to take Yang's hand from her waist to entwine their fingers together. “I was also at loss when I initially realized I was attracted to you."

This small supportive gesture relieved Yang to a degree, both with the matter of her inner turmoil and her anxiousness over the perceived rift she thought she may have created between them.  She gave a gentle squeeze of the faunus's hand. "…But even then, look at how collected you've been. I feel horrible that I’m being so… weird about this when it seems you're totally okay with it. How am I so mixed up still?"

Blake instantly turned to glance at her again. "Oh no, Yang, you've got it all wrong," she shot in an apologetic tone. "It's completely expected that you’re still confused, a week isn't enough to—It's taken much longer than this week for me to be okay with how I felt, it took _months_ …" As she trailed off, her expression seemed to fall and her eyes widened with the realization of what she'd just confessed.

The meaning behind Blake's words sank in and the blonde came aware that she was holding her breath. So it really _was_ as she had suspected; she _had_ failed to notice. "…What?"

Discomfited and looking more than a little anxious, Blake couldn't seem to hold her gaze; she shifted to lie with her back to her as she’d been a moment ago.

Yang grabbed her arm and forced her to face her again, though her partner wouldn't meet her gaze. "Blake...?" She called, without knowing what question to ask. Blake had said ‘how she felt’. Did she mean this physical attraction? Or was there more to it…? ...How much more? Should Yang even _ask_ …? One really shouldn’t ask questions if the truth happened to be an answer they weren’t ready to hear yet.

"…I…" Blake's voice was a little strained and she stopped herself, maybe debating how much she was comfortable revealing. Golden yellow orbs then flickered up to look at her and she exhaled nervously, apparently resigning herself. "…I meant that… even before that mission the way I had been looking at you already wasn't… entirely innocent," she ended up admitting. “Back then, I didn’t want to dwell on it. Even though, in spite of my best efforts to ignore it, I was very aware of how attracted to you I was,” she carefully explained. "And to be completely honest, that was why I was hesitant to share a bed back then. I felt it was unfair to you."

Her inadvertent confession had made it clear enough already that Blake had been fancying her for some time, but hearing the confirmation still stirred her. It felt like her heart would explode out of her chest. "So how long have you…?"

"Longer than I would like to admit," she quietly offered. Blake’s eyes found hers again. Her expression was unequivocal: Yang knew there was no way to get anything else out of her. "The point is… don't berate yourself over struggling with what you're feeling,” she resumed. “It's new to you, it will take some time. On my part, I already had _plenty_ of time to recognize what I had inside of me and accept what it was I wanted from you."

With this, the question again was on the tip of her tongue, ' _And what is it exactly that you want from me?'_ …except she managed to bite back the words once more. She couldn't go there yet. Her fingers gently trailed on her arm again. "You never thought of letting me know?"

"Of course not." Blake finally turned around, settling to face her completely. "How could I, Yang? I had no reason to even _hope_ I may have had a chance."

The change of position had her release her. "That's not true. I flirted with you constantly."

"But you're a flirt," she countered immediately. "And I'm not even the only one you flirt with. _And_ you said yourself that you didn't realize what you felt was attraction.” Blake observed her with a bit of a dejected mood. “Your flirting was just that. If there was intent, you weren't even aware yourself."

The blonde pursed her lips lightly. She had no choice but to concede the point her partner made. "Right. Okay. So you just shrugged it off…"

Blake sighed inaudibly. "Try to understand, Yang… I'm a faunus; the world is harsh with us. We’re _constantly_ made to feel undesirable, unwanted… and some humans even see us as vermin, slaves, animals, _pets_! …It would be an understatement to say that most of my life I haven't been made to feel very appreciated." The tone of her voice was a heart-wrenching mix of pain and frustration, even more so than it usually would be when she would speak about faunus rights. She took a few seconds to gather herself, gently entwining her fingers with her partner's again now that she was facing her.

Yang listened intently. The other woman was very vocal about the inequality between their species and the necessity of fighting for civil rights but it wasn’t very often that she spoke of her own experiences, of how _she_ had personally been hurt by all this.

Blake absentmindedly stroked the back of her hand with her thumb. "It took me wearing that bow on my head for me to feel like I didn’t stand out as a target anymore,” she so very quietly admitted. “These people… they would constantly make me feel like an eyesore, so… I guess, somewhere along the line, it became customary for me to be wary. To analyze everything in a negative light… to be prepared for a worst case scenario.” Her gaze, which had drifted down as she talked, now flowed back up to meet Yang's. “Feeling like the things I want or just good things… can't _possibly_ be happening to me, not without there being a catch somewhere."

It was very easy to read what the other woman was avoiding explicitly telling her and the blonde felt her heart stabbed that someone so wonderful and so beautiful would ever be made to feel so unwanted. “You didn’t think I could honestly want…? …I’m not like them, Blake.”

"Oh, Yang, no, I know! I know you aren't _anything_ like them! I know for you I'm a _person_ … that you believe I deserve just the same as any of you,” she assertively defended. “It’s just that… all that, it didn't necessarily mean that you would be able to see past race when it came to…" Blake hesitated, maybe searching for the right word, maybe trying not to use another one. "…When it came to anything more than friendship." The cat ears flattened themselves slightly, then perked up again. "I couldn't have hoped…I mean, the respect you show me already feels outstanding, it's hard for me to conceive it could go even beyond that. Even now, it _still_ seems so farfetched that there could be genuine attraction…"

Yang stared back for a long moment, letting what was just said sink in. “You find it hard to believe that I’m into you…?”

“When I stop to think about it... yeah,” she admitted.

“But _I am_.”

“I know,” she quickly shot back. “It’s clear enough,” she allowed, and her features broke into a light smile that was slightly reassuring. Yang gave a comforting squeeze on the hand she was holding and Blake answered with the same. “It’s simply… it feels so much like a dream I can hardly believe it.”

"I never could’ve guessed," she quietly said. Blake was such a _gorgeous_ woman, it was near impossible to wrap her head around the idea that she would’ve ever felt undesirable. “Do you…” she started asking but stopped herself; what she was about to ask sounded so _absurd_ to her that it felt pointless, stupid even, to ask. But in view of what Blake had just revealed to her… she really _did_ need to know. “Blake, do you… not feel like you’re attractive…?”

At this, she broke eye contact, visibly discomfited. “Objectively…I know I’m not _un_ attractive,” she carefully offered. “I have days where I feel good, where I’m happy with how I look… but then, then other days…” she sighed and seemed to shrink down somehow. “This world we live in… its reality has made me see myself in an unfairly negative light. If I'm to be completely honest—” she stopped herself; it looked like she reconsidered what she’d been about to say. Her golden orbs found violet ones in search of something she would never find; any hint that Yang would be judgmental towards her or think any differently of her. Blake exhaled a breath she seemed to have forgotten she was holding. “If I’m to be completely honest,” she started again, so gently, “there's this looming sensation that I'm something I should be ashamed of being, something… lowly, an aberration." As she spoke, her voice sounded more strained, and Yang could tell she was struggling to keep composed. "I can't help thinking twice about my heritage when around humans and I… despite how I _wish_ I wouldn't think this way, despite my wish to… not feel like I have to apologize for simply existing, this… this _shame_ is still deep-seated within me. This shame… like I have something insidious infused in my very DNA that everyone would be disgusted with,” she explained painfully.

Listening to her was nothing short of heartbreaking. That anyone would be made to feel this atrocious about something as fundamental as their very identity had her at a complete loss of words. Yang dragged her into her arms, crushing her against herself, _needing_ for her to feel wanted and treasured and desirable because she truly was all those things. Blake’s breathing against her chest as she nestled her head in the crook of her neck was shivering almost imperceptivity, but still betrayed how emotional talking about this had made her.

“…It’s been better lately between how the bow hiding my ears spares me would-be disgusted looks and how good you’ve made me feel,” Blake murmured against her skin. “But I still… I still was very mindful that no matter how unbiased you were about having a faunus partner… sexually could be an entirely different matter.”

Her eyes flickered up to the cat ears. Of course Yang knew that the animal appendages were not the only things that made faunus different from humans, but the differences between the two races were so insignificant compared to what similarities they shared, she couldn't understand how anyone would be deterred by them. “I could’ve never guessed you of all people would feel this way. I mean, since you were a pro-equality activist and all, I wouldn't have thought you'd see your race as a potential problem."

"How I wish the world was and how I've experienced it are two things." Her voice was a little bitter, and Blake seemed to realize it; she gently detached herself from the other woman’s embrace so she could turn on her back. It looked like she was gathering herself and it felt to the blonde as if the topic wasn't something her partner was used to broaching, let alone opening up about. “I've… heard and seen _horrors_. So it’s only natural that I worry my race will matter in the eyes of someone I may desire.”

Yang silently observed her. The dark haired faunus was visibly upset and, though there was nothing she wanted more than to comfort her, Blake had moved away from her only a second ago. She reined in the urge to touch her again, opting to leave her some space and listen instead.

Blake scowled at the bed-boards above them. "You know, most humans aren't violent towards us. But there's _astonishing_ rejection. These people believe interracial relationships are unnatural. Or that...   _it's okay for others but not for me, or my kids or my family_ . It's something that's okay on TV, but they reject us if they feel we're too close for comfort," she explained animatedly, seemingly forgetting their sleeping teammates. “Racism is _perfidious_ . Even if we manage to stay safe, it’s not all in the open violence… _No faunus_ signs on stores? Being referred to as _‘it’_ instead of ‘she’? You know, I’ve even had some people wipe their hands after touching me,” she revealed, turning again to lock gazes with Yang’s appalled one. “How do you think that comes off to you when you’re a child…?” Blake still continued. “No matter how hard you try to preserve a healthy self-esteem… All that wears you down like death by a thousand cuts.” With this, she crossed her arms tightly, it almost looked like she needed to hold herself for comfort. “I’ve felt repulsive, _often…_ It won’t simply go away.”

Not being on the receiving end of this despicable behavior and not having many faunus friends, she had never witnessed anything of the sort happen. It probably was also due to the fact that hateful people may have been less likely to target faunus were they accompanied with human friends. But as she reflected more on the reality of it all, the worst, she realized, was undoubtedly the casual racism was such a customary part of the scenery that she’d stopped noticing. “That’s… so fucked up,” she eventually managed to articulate. “I’m sorry. I can't wrap my head around how fucking awful these people can be, I’m _so_ sorry."

Blake shook her head almost imperceptibly. "Don't apologize, you're not the reason I've felt this way."

“I haven’t done anything to help though,” Yang argued, considerably bothered now that she came aware of all this.

“You’ve helped making me feel better, healing me,” Blake countered. “From the very first moment you’ve known I’m a faunus… it never changed your behavior towards me. You’ve always been so keen on being around me, being close to me and you’ve been fussing so much over me…  not to mention the way you would so readily give all those gentle touches; take my hand or caress my hair… it’s been very therapeutic for me to be shown such open appreciation and enthusiasm.” As she explained this, it felt like the puzzle was finally falling into place to Yang. She had always found it odd how, though Blake was always very mindful and cautious with personal space, though she had always seemed uncomfortable initiating physical contact, she nevertheless very docilely and without fail would let Yang do as she pleased. Even when it came to absurd endeavors like swooping her up in a bride carry.

“I never realized you liked it so much,” the blonde offered with a smile.

“In truth, I liked it so much it made me feel guilty,” she admitted. “Because I was _so_ attracted to you and I _loved_ whenever you would touch me and… I thought…” she trailed off, her eyes drifting to her again. Blake observed her for a very still, extended moment. Something about the darkness around them shifted, maybe it was clouds moving to give way to the full glory of the moon that shone through the window, but Blake seemed to come alight in the darkness. Her eyes shone with a fascinating gleam as she turned her whole body towards her again. “It doesn’t matter what I thought; I was _wrong_ ,” she whispered before she leaned in to gently capture her lips.

The kiss they shared was so unbelievably tender, the word _lovers_ floated through her mind again… and it tasted so sweet. _Both_ the word and the kiss did. Yang caressed her silky hair and her cheek and meanwhile she could feel Blake’s hand on her waist, idly caressing her skin with the tip of her fingers. Her partner’s slow breathing seem to dictate the rhythm of the blonde’s very existence and she seemed to forget herself. Her lips slowly moving against Yang’s were the best thing in the world and the blonde couldn’t help moving closer. They pressed against each other, content to revel in each other’s presence.  
  
Blake had been the one initiating the kiss and she was also the one to withdraw. Yang hadn’t been ready for it to end and she moved back in, startling her partner when she hurriedly kissed her again with such longing she surprised even herself. It felt like she’d waited a lifetime to kiss her again when it’d been only a second. The way the dark haired faunus was so completely taken aback and helplessly surrendered to it was sexier than the brawler could’ve anticipated… and _oh_ , what to say of the way her hand moved from Yang’s waist to weakly grasp her shirt, pulling her half over her. The blonde exhaled shakily as she cupped her cheek again, struggling so much to prevent her hand from wandering down. Blake’s chest moulding to her own and her _perfect_ body against hers was downright sinful. Yang made herself pull back before things got out of hand again. She stared down into the fascinating gold of her almond-shaped eyes, rapt with the surreal, _spectacular_ portrait of her porcelain skin contrasting the halo of jet black hair that framed her delicate features as they spilled on her pillow and her lips slightly reddened by Yang’s insistent commandeering of them.

“When you kiss me, I momentarily forget I ever felt wrong about myself,” Blake whispered, interrupting her admiring.

“These people are sick. There's _nothing_ wrong with you,” she vehemently answered.

“I’ve been making a point of not letting myself believe otherwise,” she acquiesced.

"I’m angry with myself I never realized it was that bad for faunus, I’m sorry.”

A frown broke her features. “Yang please, no, don’t go down that road. You can’t blame yourself for that.”

“But how bad does it have to be if it’s to a point where _you_ would _ever_ feel unattractive…?! It completely blows my mind— I mean, you’re _Blake Belladonna_ . _Literally_ the sexiest piece of ass in Beacon Academy." Even through the darkness, Yang could see her face redden slightly. Blake narrowed her eyes and her eyebrows went up in apparent disbelief, it was adorable enough to lighten the blonde's mood.

"Don't give me that look, you really are!" She laughed and the reaction she now received was her partner pursing her lips, her expression unchanging. "What, you think I'm trying to butter you up? You mean you don't realize how many people ogle you?" As the dark haired woman kept staring at her with a skeptical look, Yang realized not only had the faunus not perceived the stares she'd often get as admiring, but she also realized it was possible she may not even have read them as positive attention. The blonde's expression fell, now quite serious. "…Blake, you make heads turn. _Big time_. Hell, you made my head turn and I didn't even know I could like women."

Her unconvinced mask instantly turned inquisitive. "So you do?"

Yang frowned, confused for a second. "What?"

"Like women."

The blonde hesitated. "You mean other than you?" She bluntly asked.

Blake broke eye contact again, discomfited. "…..Yes, other than me."

She took another moment to observe her partner, again caught with her beauty. Blake was such a work of art that Yang was convinced this very beauty of hers transcended even gender-specific attraction. Though in truth, the way she wanted to flat out _worship_ her body surely held heftier significance about her own orientation. "I haven't thought about it much," she found herself saying. "But I guess… I assume I have to, given how much I want you." She then reached out to gently caress her cheek and incite her to look her way again. "It's just that… I can't give it a fair thought because honestly, ever since we started… _this_ , I don't even care anymore about guys either," she confessed in a whisper. “It's like there's just you I want.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she saw that unmistakable glimmer of lust ignite those golden eyes and all at once, irresistible desire engulfed Yang again. Her hand travelled in the midnight hair and she pulled her in to capture her lips once more. This kiss wasn’t as sweet or tender as the last one. Blake longingly kissed her back, running her hand through golden curls and Yang pushed her on her back, promptly hauling herself on top. As she devoured her lips, Blake entwined their legs together, allowing the blonde’s thigh to slip between her own. That amazingly hot spot between her legs had Yang’s breathing hastily get more and more laborious and she pressed to her, overtaken with goosebumps from the way the damp fabric of her underwear stuck to the skin of her thigh. The brawler aggressively gripped her ass with one hand, inciting her to start grinding and the raven haired beauty shuddered, instinctively giving a thrust of her hips as she moaned into the kiss.

“Yang,” she protested weakly, running her hands from her cheeks down her neck to her shoulders. The blonde’s fingers dug deeper into the flesh of her ass and she pulled on her again, this time getting her to steadily grind against her thigh.

Her mind reeled, went completely blank; when the other woman would thrust her hips this way, it triggered something unbelievably wild from deep within her. “Fuck, I want you...” she exhaled. She could feel Blake’s hand drift from her back to her side, grazing her breast but not quite getting between them to fondle it. “Blake,” she moaned against her lips, her hand on her rear went to caress her partner’s thigh and found its way on her hip under her kimono. Having forgotten the situation, she impudently pulled at her underwear.

Snapping out of it, Blake immediately broke the kiss, pushing on her shoulders with both hands. "Yang,” She gasped. “Y—…you're being _really_ unfair with me," she breathed out. It sounded like she tried to keep her voice as unwavering as possible yet uneasiness unmistakably showed through.

The brawler pressed her mouth to her neck in a burning kiss, then exhaled lowly. "Sorry, I'm really sorry…" She didn't move for another moment. Yang absolutely didn't want to stop or get off her partner, but she knew she had to. Blake under her after having craved her for seven painful days was the most magnificent feeling she had experienced in her life. Tearing herself off felt like tearing her skin from her bones so painful it was. She lied down again next to her, facing her, mirroring her agitated gaze. "I'm sorry, I told you I don't trust myself."

"It's okay," she whispered, fidgeting slightly. "It's just…I know you don't actually want to do this with Ruby sleeping right there. And yet… You've worked me up to an unreasonable point." As she spoke, she ran her fingers on the blonde's thigh, finding moistness where Yang had pressed against her and thus emphasizing her point.

"…Sorry," Yang repeated. "I'll make it up to you," she added in an effort to cheer her a little. With this, she took the hand that had lingered on her thigh and brought her fingers to her mouth to kiss them gently, searching for remnants of that dampness on them. The almost imperceptible taste and the slightly more distinguishable smell had a hot flash go through her body. She was powerless to stop herself from remembering the one time she’d tasted her and along with it came the memory of Blake's thighs on each side of her head as she had positioned herself over her face. Yang exhaled heavily and Blake's hand in hers slid from mouth to her cheek, gently caressing it and tucking the blonde bangs behind her ear. The brawler was slowly taking a hold of herself again as she pensively observed her, letting the faunus trace her features and comb her hair with her fingers.

The fact that Blake wanted her was unquestionable, but Yang still wondered what shape that desire took inside her partner. Did Blake also scrutinize her? Did Blake’s gaze linger on any features of her body more than others? Which ones? Did she daydream about doing…things too…? What exactly? Was she comfortable with those thoughts? She did say it had been months since she’d realized her attraction to Yang. And this led to yet another question. "…Blake, have you always known you were into both?"

She hummed gently. “You want to know if I knew I could like women before I realized I was attracted to you?"

“Sorry, yeah, that was a bit unclear.”

Blake shook her head faintly. “I didn’t know,” she admitted. "I never actively sought or seriously considered romance before, so I didn't know I had… … tendencies. I was very troubled when I first realized how I had started looking at you," she quietly explained. "…As you may imagine, both of us being women was another reason why I couldn't bring myself to let you know."

Yang’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. "It's not the main reason?"

Blake shrugged. "No… I thought… I don't know. I guess I thought my being a faunus is what would put one off before anything else."

Ruby and she had been raised with a very equalitarian mindset and, in their family, race would _never_ have come out as a potential issue. It was only now that her partner had explained all this that she was truly able to understand why that fear would loom over her. “People are morons,” she simply ended up saying. It made her furious that it was so common for humans to have such completely bigoted and groundless hostility that someone as fantastic as Blake would be conditioned to presume she was unwanted. “Our semblances already make us different enough from human to human, what’s the big deal about horns or a tail? They’re just _there_ ,” she vented.

Blake had a small smile. “So my ears are just _there_?”

“No,” she instantly interjected. “Your ears are so precious. They’re the cutest thing and every time you get embarrassed and they flatten down, I think I almost die.”

As expected, Blake’s cat ears flattened backwards and, with that light blush on her cheeks, she was so _irresistibly_ endearing Yang abruptly clutched her to herself.

Her voice came muffled as her face was buried somewhere between Yang’s neck and breasts. “...You _like_ them?”

“What?”

Blake managed to have her relax her grip and move just enough so that she could look at her curiously. “My ears. You actually like them…?”

“Yeah! A lot, actually.” She shot with a large grin. “I like how expressive they are even when you try to put on a poker face. And I really like the way it sorta makes your whole portrait…” she trailed off, attempting to find the correct word to describe how those pointy little ears completed her partner’s image. “Sharper? I don’t know. You wouldn’t be you without them and I like them,” she concluded, reaching to caress the dark locks of hair, gently tracing around one of the cat ears pensively. “I really think it’s a shame you hide them, though I understand why now,” she gently said to which Blake gave a very faint nod. Yang smiled again. “You know… if you ever want to go around with your ears out, you _know_ I’ll look out for you, right? Ruby and Weiss will too.”

She nodded again. “I know, thank you. But… I like the anonymity the bow grants,” she reminded her. With this she gave a sigh; the conversation at hand clearly stirred her train of thought. "…I wish everyone would see past race. I _wish_ there was absolutely no discrimination," Blake quietly voiced. "But… that’s not how it is. And that bow is granting me equal opportunity—not be denied things or denied _help,_ or sabotaged… or… harmed. Simply for being a faunus.”

“…Has that actually happened?” Yang found herself asking. She knew those things happened out there but… it having happened to Blake chilled her with the sort of hate for strangers that she had never felt before.

Her partner stared at her for a long time. It looked like she didn’t want to answer, but the longer she remained silent, the louder that very silence spoke.

“...Blake…?”

It was another moment before she spoke again. "…I've… I— … I’ve had… more than a few traumatic experiences with racism," she carefully said. Though she implicitly refused to describe any specific event, her answer only cemented Yang’s assumption that her partner had indeed been abused in some ways. “And so, for as long as I remember, I’ve… _dreamed_ of being able to walk with my head up high with my ears on display. You can say it's been a childhood fantasy… either for the world to somehow be different… or for me to be strong enough not to crumble under the hate. And… and I've—" she stopped herself, her breath catching in her throat. “I’ve _tried_ and every time I seem to take a step forward, it seems to be the wrong way and I get pushed back twice further and I just _can't_ seem to stand strong and face—… … And I… I feel more ashamed of _everything I am_ ,” she ambiguously blathered. Her eyes were glassy and she sniffed, her cat ears flattening back again in apparent embarrassment at her discomfiture. “I’m sorry, I not making any sense,” she whispered.

At this point Yang was unsure if the dark haired woman in her arms was still on the topic of the weight of racism, or she'd somehow found herself talking about past mistakes. She didn’t understand what she was trying to convey or what she was referring to but she was certain Blake would someday open up more and it’d make sense then. She was however very aware that Blake's past had not been pretty, and seeing her get emotional this way was just harrowingly painful. Yang's heart swelled with sorrow, compassion, anger, so many crushing emotions. “For what it’s worth, I’m _proud_ of having you by my side,” she affirmed. “I couldn’t have dreamed up someone better than you.”

Her words seemed to have the adverse effect than intended, and Blake’s disposition went from fragile to dismal. “Of course you could. I’m flawed and damaged,” she dryly answered.

How much self-loathing and hate she harbored was nearly inconceivable to Yang, she couldn’t help but wonder if all that was more the result of the rejection she’d experienced or of her own mistakes. She nevertheless felt choked up with sorrow for the so very precious woman in her arms and she tightened her embrace as if she would be able to absorb whatever residue of pain could be left. “I know you’re not perfect, Blake. I’m not either. No one is,” she gently said. “But the qualities you have, I admire; they inspire me. You’re noble and dedicated and so smart and you have a _vocation_ , and you… _really_ make me want to be better; help people, defend strangers, get justice for them.” As she’d talked, she noticed the tension gradually leave Blake’s body. It felt like her heartfelt words had reached her and she smiled to herself. Very softly, she nuzzled her cheek against the midnight curls. “…Maybe I shouldn’t be saying this but I… I also feel like… we’re very complementary.”

There was a very long silence and Yang had pretty much given up on getting any sort of answer. It almost surprised her that Blake carefully ended up asking: “Why shouldn’t you be saying this?”

“It’s…” Yang breathed out shakily, unable to articulate the reason. Because she couldn’t breach that topic yet. Because she didn’t have answers yet. Because she couldn’t face Blake’s truth yet.

As if she’d read all this plain and clear, Blake shook her head faintly. “It doesn’t matter,” she murmured. “But it’s not wrong… we _are_ complementary,” she still acknowledged, running both hands down her back as she hugged her closer.  
  
The brawler decided it may be wiser not to add anything. She was content in her arms and she didn’t want to chance saying something that may either ruin the moment or move things along faster than she was ready. She returned the embrace, laying a soft kiss on her temple.

 

* * *

  
  
The first thing she came aware of when she woke up was that Yang was still with her, sleeping very soundly. With a yawn, Blake pulled her closer, curling in her arms and burying her face in her chest. The blonde's loose tank top exposed a lot of skin and, as she settled against it, she sighed contently. The pleasant smell of Yang's skin was both comforting and arousing, the warmth of her body made her want to drift back to sleep, the soft flesh of her chest gently rising against her cheek with every slow inhalation made her want to press her mouth to it. She tilted her head ever so slightly, brushing her lips against her breast as she snuggled closer. Oh, how she wanted mark her skin, explore her with her mouth again, kiss every inch of her. Her arms around Yang slowly caressed down her back to her ass, pulling their bodies closer together under the bedcovers. Before she knew it, she realized she was purring.  
  
The faunus cracked her eyes open again, her sleepy mind now remembering she had to mind her behavior and that, with this much light flooding the room, she may need to think about getting out of bed. They did have class and especially… it may be better to avoid being seen by their teammates. Reluctantly, she made herself let go of her partner and sat up, scratching her head. Glancing to the neighboring bed had her notice it was empty, indicating the snow haired heiress was already up. Blake's eyes then swiped the room and promptly met the cool blue orbs that happened to be observing her from afar.

Weiss finished buttoning up her uniform vest in silence, then proceeded with the red ribbon around her neck, her eyes still locked with Blake's. She neatly tied the ribbon into a perfect bow, ultimately breaking eye contact as she glanced at her reflection in the mirror to ensure of her impeccable appearance. Then she approached their beds.

"…Good morning," Weiss finally greeted.

"Good morning," Blake answered very quietly. Her teammate unquestionably had to have seen how she had been cuddling up to her partner, even if said teammate had been a little far to be able to witness the full extent of the intimacy of her actions. Blake awkwardly looked up at Weiss, then at the makeshift bunk beds across, wanting to shift the attention away from herself. "Ruby is still sleeping?"

"Yes, I was about to get her out of bed," she retorted, though she didn't move from standing next to Blake's bed. After another second of apparent deliberation, she opened her mouth again. "…What happened?"

"What?"

"…Well," Weiss cleared her throat then nodded towards the sleeping blonde. "Someone's not in her own bed."

Though Blake had hoped against all odds she would overlook it, it had been a given Weiss wouldn’t let this slide without _at least_ inquiring. The faunus glanced towards her partner, who drowsily seemed to be searching for the warm body that had torn itself from her arms. "She… heard me having a nightmare. About the White Fang. She came down to wake me up and calm me down… I guess we fell asleep while talking."

"Oh. Okay." It seemed to Blake like she was buying it. Or maybe she wasn't, Weiss _did_ look to still be slightly bothered after all but if she hadn't bought it, then she apparently wasn't certain enough to call Blake out on a lie. Ultimately, she seemed to decide to move on. "I'm going to wake Ruby now, I trust you can take care of your own partner?"

"Yeah, I'll make sure she's not late," the faunus acquiesced.

The snow haired heiress stepped towards her own bunk bed, about to pull on the bed covers half-hanging from the top bunk to shock their short haired leader awake. Instead, she suddenly turned again to her previous interlocutor, that odd disconcerted look tainting her features again. Whatever had been bothering her had prevailed and Weiss stepped closer again. "Blake?" Her expression was now openly perplex, very uncertain. "…Were you… sorry, but honestly, just now. You were _purring_?"

"…Maybe."

Weiss furrowed her brow further, narrowing her eyes in apparent disapproval of the vague response. "Is it 'maybe' as in you were still half asleep and you don't remember or 'maybe' as in you're embarrassed that I heard you?"

"Maybe you heard wrong…?" Blake tried meekly.

"I know what I heard."

Her cat ears flattened themselves backwards in shame. "Can you _please_ let it go?"

Weiss's gaze drifted from Blake to Yang's sleeping form before she looked back towards the faunus for another seemingly interminable moment. The icy blue of her eyes gave the young woman a very piercing gaze and the way she kept staring at her made Blake feel like she could see through her.

"I see," Weiss finally said. Then she was about to resume her activities, but she glanced at Blake one last time. "Don’t worry, I won't tell," she added before pulling on the dangling bed covers, earning them a displeased cry from Ruby's bed.

Very troubled with what had just happened, Blake felt uneasiness stem in the pit of her stomach. What did her teammate mean? That she won't tell Ruby that Yang had slept in her bed? Or tell that Blake can purr? Or tell _Yang_ that she was purring while snuggling up to her? Was it that maybe Weiss was starting to fit the pieces together…? Anxiously, she turned to the blonde.

While the room was now drowned in the white princess and their quirky team leader arguing about whether or not it was too early for Ruby to get out of bed, Blake brought her hand to her own partner's arm, gently shaking her. "Yang…" She called.

The brawler groaned but didn't open her eyes; she reached up to lazily pull on Blake's wrist so she'd lie with her again.

She wondered how her partner wasn’t bothered by the ruckus. Maybe growing up with a younger sibling made her impervious to the noise? "I can't, it's morning. You need to get out of my bed now."

With this, her eyes snapped open and she sat up right away. "A-are they—"

"It's okay," Blake whispered. Her voice was almost drowned by the quarrelling going on in the background. "I had a nightmare and we fell asleep as we talked. That's the story. Weiss saw us."

Yang seemed dazed, evidently not entirely awake. Then, as the information seemed to register, she nodded. Her amethyst eyes fell on their snow haired friend trying oh so hard to force her younger partner down from her bed. Yang let herself fall on her back and yawned, closing her eyes.

Blake stared at her for a second, unsure about what the blonde was doing. "You're just… going back to sleep?"

"No," she shrugged. They heard Ruby fall out of bed and being dragged away. Yang smiled. "But it's not like I have to hurry either, my dear sister won't be ready for a while."

Blake sighed.

"Out of bed, Xiao Long!" Weiss's pointy voice called from the bathroom to which she had dragged Ruby.

Yang put Blake's pillow over her head. "Tell her I'm still sleeping."

She rolled her eyes. "She's still sleeping," Blake repeated, just loud enough for the short heiress to hear.

"Don't stoop to her level, Belladonna. I heard her voice, I know she's awake," Weiss called back. They then heard the shower running along with some threats of being dunked under the water with pajamas still on. It was when Ruby complained she'd undress when she had privacy that Weiss then came stomping out of the bathroom. She shut the door behind her, consequently muting the indignant rant about how cold the water was, and started picking up Ruby's books and school materials, shoving everything in her bag to save them some time. "I swear those siblings, why do I need to be babysitting—" she stopped as she noticed the pair still in bed. "Blake, kick her out of bed!"

"You heard that? I'm supposed to kick you out of bed," Blake removed the pillow to see her partner's face and was met with a playfully gleaming leer.

"Isn't your bed where you like me best though?" Yang whispered almost inaudibly.

Blake felt a flash of heat overcome her. Oh how she found her partner sexy when she gave her that look. Not that there was _ever_ a time when she didn't find the blonde sexy, but this… this was upsettingly alluring. She glanced behind her, making sure Weiss stopped paying attention to them before she leaned in very close. "No, where I like you best is _on top of me_ ," she whispered.

Instantaneously, she saw lust flare up in her partner's eyes. "Oh, damn," Yang breathed. "Brutal… Making me want you from the moment I wake up."

"Wouldn't you have wanted me anyhow from the moment you opened your eyes?" Blake playfully shot back, still keeping her voice very low.

Yang grinned. "Even before that," she declared. "Maybe I haven't told you, but I dream a lot about you. _Hot_ dreams."

Blake felt herself smile. "You don't need to tell me, I know."

"Oh really?" Her grin widened and Yang stretched lazily. Her orange tank top rode up, uncovering more of her toned stomach.

She knew she was blatantly staring and she knew the blonde could see it but there was no reason for her to try to veil her gaze, not with her back to their other teammate. "I thought I told you how great my sense of smell is."

The amethyst eyes amusedly observed her, apparently quite entertained with the way she was unashamedly studying her. "Ouch. Blake – two, Yang – zero."

She laughed, poking her stomach. "What do I win?"

Her smooth answer came with a killer smile. "Anything you want."

 _Your heart_ , was the first thing she thought of answering. And with this thought, her own heart seemed to crumble heavily into her painfully compressed chest. Without another word, Blake got out of bed.

"Noooo! Kitten, don't leave me!" Yang complained loudly.

"Kitten?" Weiss repeated, staring Blake down as she walked across the room.

Deciding not to acknowledge either of them, she knocked on the bathroom door. "Ruby, are you almost done?"

 **tbc** -


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was 11 666 words - is now 14 504 after revision

Yang quickly dumped everything into her gym bag, not even bothering to get changed before hauling the thing over her shoulder and jogging out of the building. A moment ago, she'd received a message on her scroll from Ruby informing her that, for the sake of her beloved Crescent Rose's maintenance, she was heading downtown to a weapon shop. Weiss was accompanying her on her quest given her need to restock on Dust and, as they were going to be downtown, they'd make the best of it. Ruby mentioned not to expect them for dinner as they would be getting home just before the school curfew.  
  
The blonde had barely finished reading her sister's message that she’d already contacted Blake, who had excused herself to the library earlier that day, asking if she'd seen their leader's message. The faunus's answer had been _'I have. I'm leaving the library, how soon can you be at our room?'_

This had been what they were waiting for. She couldn't wipe her grin off her face, and Yang couldn't care less what she looked like running through the campus in her gym clothes with her idiot smile. Twelve days. It had been _twelve days_.

She sprinted up the stairs, her breath burned her throat and her heart thumped in her head and somewhere at the back of her mind she wondered if that counted for something in making up for her interrupted workout. Still, she didn't stop to catch her breath so rushed she was to reach their room.  
  
Letting herself in, the first thing she was aware of was the curtains being drawn, either to obscure the room or to deter some of their new friends from showing up at the window for an impromptu get-together. Habit let her kick her shoes off and lock the door behind her without fumbling around, her eyes had yet to adjust to the darkness. Scanning the room, it seemed like the dark haired faunus faded in from the shadows as she advanced towards her. She had already stripped down to her underwear, to the blonde's great delight. Yang dropped her bag and hurried to her. She claimed her lips hastily as she drew her in a strong embrace while Blake used the momentum to jump up in her arms, wrapping her legs around her waist. What little lucidity left in her brain let Yang be amazed once again at how unbelievably light the faunus was. With one hand she seized her partner's thigh, holding her up, the other went down her back to firmly grip her rear and Blake gently bit her lower lip.  
  
Panting both from her run and from the abandon with which she kissed her, Yang moved them to the bottom bed of their shared bunk, never breaking from her lips. She set Blake down on her back, almost falling on top of her. Hands tugged at her shirt, then quickly moved underneath it, caressing her lower back and sides, running short nails on her skin. Blake had kept them trimmed, Yang pleasingly realized. Fingers moved on her ribs and, with a shiver, the blonde broke the kiss. "Don't do that, it tickles," she laughingly said.  
  
"What if I like your laugh?" The faunus shot back with a smile, starting to pull off the other woman's shirt.  
  
"I can't be kissing you if I'm laughing," Yang countered, also smiling. She raised herself on her knees in order to get rid of her clothing. With her skin moist from her workout and subsequent run, her shirt stuck to her slightly as she pulled it off. She threw it to the floor but, as she was now self-conscious of the state she was in, she was hesitant to lie back down over her. "Sorry, I'm sticky and disgusting, I just left the gym without showering, I jogged here and I-"  
  
"Your skin is barely a little moist, it's nothing," Blake interjected. "I couldn't care less," she added, in an apparent hurry to proceed. With both hands, she caressed her partner's now exposed stomach and hips. "…Anyways, I _intended_ on making you sweat," she declared with a grin, still groping her midsection.  
  
Mirroring her partner's expression with a smirk of her own, Yang advanced over her on all fours. "Dirty girl," she whispered, not letting herself down yet.  
  
"Guilty of charge," Blake answered as quietly before she licked her lips. "I have to admit… the scent of your body turns me on," she said in a breath, propping herself up on her elbows. She reached for her shoulder with one hand so Yang wouldn't move as she pressed her mouth to her neck. "Your hair, your skin, your…" she trailed off, her hand had found its way between her partner's legs, feeling her through her gym shorts. Yang knew Blake could feel tremendous heat even with the fabric acting as a barrier. She felt herself being rubbed slowly, which elicited a breathless moan from her. Her partner slowly licked her skin, then sucked gently, moving up to her earlobe. "I want my bedsheets to smell like you," she exhaled against her ear.  
  
Yang shuddered with lust; she pushed the other woman into the mattress and laid down on her again. "We can make that happen." With this, she crashed her mouth to hers again, passionately devouring her lips.  
  
Blake latched at her again in response, bringing their mostly naked bodies together as she wrapped her legs again around her waist. Both hands caressed her cheeks, then lost themselves in the thick mane of golden curls, combing it, flowing out of it, gripping closer. Yang then felt those fingers disentangle out of her hair, move to her shoulders and back, now pulling at the sports bra she was still wearing. Yang absolutely didn't want to stop kissing her but the barrier the garment offered was much of a hindrance given her absolute _need_ for skin against skin. Moreover, it had to go eventually… so she willed herself to break from her again. She did her best to hurry, yet with her damp skin and the tightness of the thing, she struggled to wriggle out of it and pull it over her head. After a few seconds, feeling ridiculous and mildly annoyed, she paused. She found herself sniggering as she realized she was not quite stuck, but close. Yang then pulled again, though more weakly this time around and, of course, it didn't help her situation at all. "Blake," she now laughed heartily, intending this as a call for help.  
  
The dark haired faunus couldn't help laughing too at how silly her partner looked. "You're ridiculous," she chuckled. "Come here," she added in an amused tone and Yang leaned towards her, arms up, to let herself be saved. "There," Blake grinned, discarding the offending garment. As the blonde sat back straight again, she saw the faunus's eyes had dropped to her newly exposed chest. Blake had stopped moving and the way she gazed at her, with that engrossed gleam in her eyes as she studied her exposed body, had Yang raise her eyebrows in pleasant surprise. She'd known her partner would subtly check her out, but having her openly admire this way was quite gratifying.  
  
"Enjoying the view?" the blonde's breathless voice seemed to make her snap out of it.  
  
Blake reached out to gently run her fingers from her collarbone down to cup one of her breasts, taking hold of it, delicately pressing her palm to it. Yang hummed in a pleased tone and moved closer again. "You don't have to be so cautious, I'm _far_ from fragile," she whispered, grinning.  
  
"I know that much," Blake scoffed, resisting the urge to roll back her eyes. She also moved closer, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she now started to massage her breast more assertively. "Telling me you're not fragile… _and_ , how you love when I'm feisty," she contemplated. "Are you trying to tell me you want me to be more aggressive?"  
  
"If I wanted to tell you something, I'd say it straight up," Yang answered. "But if I have to be honest, I think I’d really enjoy it if you _were_ …" Her smile grew even wider and she captured her lips again, longingly savoring them. She could feel Blake’s shift of behavior with the way her long fingers dug into her flesh of her beast more forcefully and found her nipple, with the way Blake's tongue was in her mouth again. Before she knew it Yang had pushed Blake on her back again. "Let's get you naked," she whispered between urgent kisses, reaching underneath her to unhook her bra. The raven haired woman arched her back to let her do so and Yang practically ripped it off her. Getting rid of the faunus’ underwear in no time as well, she then slid both arms under Blake to cradle her into a fierce embrace. The blonde had to pause, overwhelmed by the electrifying feeling of full-body skin contact. Her cheek against the dark curls, she in turn exhaled heavy breathes and then deeply inhaled the unique scent of her hair. She could feel Blake's lips in the crook of her neck, searching her skin gently at first, then quickly moving onto leaving wet love bites, then not even shying away from biting.  
  
Yang was shaken by another shudder of lust and the way Blake's hands moved underneath the blonde hair, massaging her back and moving into her shorts to grope her ass, was only fanning the flames. In that instant, the last two weeks of anticipation and desire seemed to bring her to her tipping point and Yang definitely couldn't take any more. "Blake." Her voice was wavering. "…I _need_ you to finger me."  
  
She felt Blake chuckle in response under more than she heard her. "Someone's eager," the dark haired woman commented.  
  
"Yes," Yang shamelessly answered. "I've got quite the build-up," she reminded her. "So please."  
  
Blake hummed contemplatively, leisurely tracing her skin at the edge of the waistband of her sport shorts. "…You haven't relieved yourself?"  
  
"It doesn't compare to how satisfying it is when we're having sex," the blonde argued.  
  
There was a pause and Blake then drew back to eye her interestedly. "…You haven't answered my question. Have you or haven't you?" She pressed, slipping her fingers under the fabric of her shorts, slowly going down the sides of her hips. "I want to know," she whispered.  
  
Yang felt herself blush, even though with how far they'd already gone, she felt silly about being embarrassed with this. "Of course I have," she ended up admitting.  
  
The corner of her lips went up again in a faint smile. "Thinking of?"  
  
The blonde pursed her lips. "Who do you think?"  
  
"You tell me."  
  
It was unnerving how racy it felt to be admitting all this out loud to her. Despite her best effort to sound casual, her voice came out embarrassingly coy when she ended up answering, "You, of course, you, Blake."  
  
With a faint but oh-so-pleased grin, she moved her hands in her shorts, one finding its way between her legs while the other circled at the back again to grab hold of her ass. She slid her fingers in her panties slowly, traveling on soaked flesh, teasing the opening. "Tell me _what_ you think of."  
  
"What, _really_?" she whined, discomfited. But then she felt Blake start to move her hands out her shorts and Yang miraculously had no reserves left. "Your lips," she started, "the way my head goes blank when you kiss me and… how _electrifying_ it is just to feel your hands on me… or… _in_ me," she whispered and she could feel Blake's fingers moving again, parting her lips. Yang exhaled heavily. Her eyes fluttered shut as she relished in the gentle caresses and she felt Blake's hand on her ass encourage her to follow her rubbing motion. The blonde bit her lower lip, smiling, complying with a slow thrust of her hips.  
  
"Yang," the faunus whispered, prompting her to open her eyes again. "Tell me more," she requested, very slowly pushing two fingers in.  
  
She opened her mouth soundlessly for a second, overwhelmed by an upsurge of desire as she felt Blake's fingers inside of her. Why did Blake's fingers feel so, _so_ extraordinarily better than her own? Yang suddenly found her voice again, "Oh God _yes_."  
  
"Yang," she recalled her attention once more. "Keep going."  
  
The blonde could feel her body grow hotter and hotter, her head was going blank; it was hard to concentrate on what Blake was saying. "…Keep going?" She repeated dazedly.  
  
Blake licked her lips, pumping her fingers steadily. "You were telling me about what you think of when you touch yourself," she reminded her.  
  
Her heart was hastily picking up speed and her hips seemed to be moving on their own, submitting to the pace of her fingers sliding almost completely out and penetrating her again. "…I think of… the way your body feels against mine," she managed, "like I'm melting into you. And…shit… _ungh_ —” She threw her head back, trying so hard to remember her fantasies, attempt to articulate them, when all her brain wanted to do was focus on _now_. “I think of… w—when _I_ finger _you_ , the warmth, the way you cling to me, it makes me so fucking hot, " she murmured, feeling Blake's fingers push deeper inside her, picturing to herself what she was retelling as she spoke. "And th-then I remember your voice… and the way it sounds when it's breathless and… those soft moans you can't hold back…God…And how _beautiful_ — _aah_ ," she let out a deep moan, as Blake suddenly seemed to hit the perfect spot, and Yang had to gather herself again, "…a-and how _beautiful_ you are, Blake. With your endless legs and… perfect breasts and your gorgeous eyes and those adorable cat ears and goddamn…" she griped, trying to breathe in. "…I sound obsessed…"  
  
"I wouldn't consider that a bad thing," Blake offered as she slowly sat up, forcing Yang to lean back and straddle her instead, still keeping a steady pace with her thrusting. Both Yang’s arms came around her shoulders and the blonde pressed their bodies together. Blake leaned her head on her shoulder, breathing against her ear. "I had no idea you had it this bad for me," she quietly commented.  
  
"Well, I do," Yang hurriedly answered. "You're all I can think of, all I need, all I _want_ ," she admitted urgently. At this, Blake lost their cadence; she apparently hadn't been expecting for her to take her remark seriously or to so openly own up to her fixation. It felt to Yang like Blake was expecting for her to keep talking, like she was yearning to hear something more. However…Yang didn't want to dwell on why she'd blurted this. She rolled her hips again, trying to incite her to continue, wanting desperately to carry on. "…For the love of god, don't stop, _please_."  
  
Instantly, Blake snapped out of it and resumed what she was doing, even picking up speed. She moved her left hand from her rear up her back, digging her fingers into her skin, unconcerned with leaving red streaks on her back. Yang moaned again, clutching her desperately, and Blake's mouth was on her neck, searching down her shoulder, marking her, biting her. "Fuck, Blake," she gasped, her hand in the dark locks held her head there.  
  
"I want to go down on you again," the faunus whispered, her lips still against her shoulder.  
  
Though the prospect was exceptionally appealing, Yang felt herself already so close; she couldn't fathom how she'd be able to let go of her partner when she was heartbeats away from ecstasy. "Don't stop what you're doing," she pleaded, panting. "Not now."  
  
Blake kissed her skin again, slowly moving on her collarbone. Yang was incredibly thankful her partner was following her lead, meeting her hip movement with her fingers. Her lips were now on her throat. "You don't want me to do it?"  
  
"Not now," Yang repeated between struggling breathes, pressing her face against the side of her head. The scent of her hair was heavenly and Blake's body in her arms was astoundingly flawless; the next moment was like a free fall. She clutched her closer, tensing up, overcome by the most _amazing_ release. It was as if time had stopped, as if everything was suspended. The whole world was muted, only Blake and this euphoria existed.

Everything then came crashing back to reality and she caught herself gasping for breath, her body _pulsating_ , yet shaken with irrepressible shivers. She felt her partner slide her fingers out and wrap both arms around her waist instead, cradling her in a soothing, incredibly tender hug.  
  
Yang leaned heavily against her and, as her mind was slowly clearing up, as her senses came back to her again, she found herself replaying to herself the last moment. She didn't know how it could be, but every time she was with Blake, the way she brought her to orgasm seemed to only keep getting more amazing. She knew it could have been any number things; Blake may have been learning from each encounter how her body worked or Yang herself was certainly more comfortable, which would have her relax and let herself go more every time. It could also have simply been that with the anticipation, with the build-up, Yang's lust was more powerful and release subsequently simply _felt_ more liberating.

Whatever it was, Yang could not be more thankful. With a last sigh, she loosened her embrace, backing a few inches. Still trying to recover her breath, she cupped her partner's cheeks with both hands, pushing away with her thumbs dark strands of hair stuck against her skin with the sweat. Blake's hands on her lower back flowed down her ass then to her thighs, settling there. She leaned in and Yang instantly met her for a slow, lingering kiss. As they kissed, Blake slowly leaned back and the blonde followed her to lie back down next to her on the bed.  
  
Her body had slowed down to a normal rhythm but her skin hadn't entirely dried when they finally parted. The inflamed golden of her feline partner's eyes shone through the darkness of the room, they seemed to be pulling her in. Blake's desire for her was blatant and Yang was magnetically, helplessly drawn to her. She was absolutely certain the other woman could see the same yearning reflected in her own eyes, Yang had never been good at hiding what she felt after all. In this instant, with how crystal clear their mutual attraction was, the blonde couldn't understand how she'd ever looked in her eyes without catching on. "I really, really needed this. Thank you," Yang whispered, caressing her cheek again.  
  
Blake shook her head faintly. "Don't thank me," she breathed. Her features had stretched into a bit of a sheepish smile and she was unable to maintain eye contact. "It almost feels like you're doing _me_ a favor by letting me do this given how much I've fantasized about you over the last months," she admitted.  
  
The blonde felt herself grin. "That much?"  
  
Blake's fingers traced a line down her arm, then up again. Yang could see her gaze completely glued to her chest. "…Quite a lot," she allowed. "…And lately even more."  
  
Yang let her partner's hands travel on her body and it seemed to her as if Blake was trying to distract herself, or maybe even distract the brawler from the subject at hand. Her grin widening, Yang couldn't help pressing the matter. "Are you going to tell me what those fantasies are about?"  
  
The dark haired faunus shrugged lightly, sliding her palm on one of her breasts, fondling her again. "Well… about you," she vaguely answered.  
  
"I know that much," she shot back. "I meant, what exactly about me. Or what I do, or what I say in those fantasies that make your head reel. Can you tell me any of that?"  
  
Blake's cat ears twitched and she moved in, laying her head against her partner's chest. "…No."  
  
"That's kind of unfair, I told you a lot," Yang laughed, embracing her. "…Are you embarrassed? Is it kinky? No need to be shy," she teased.  
  
"I'm not embarrassed," Blake quietly answered. After a short pause, she sighed and snuggled a little closer. Her body felt tenser in Yang's arms and, when her voice came again, she sounded surprisingly disheartened. "It's not kinky at all, just… I just… don't think I should tell you."  
  
The answer she received yanked the blonde out of her amused state. She had been very mindful of the way Blake had not so subtly and very deliberately avoided opening up about what may lie behind what they were doing and every time she found herself faced with this barricade Blake inevitably retreated behind, she was reminded that all this wouldn’t be able to stay nebulous forever. The urgent necessity to clear up her own heart and find answers for her partner only made itself more unrelenting. Yang carefully tightened her embrace, very cautious not to let her change of mood reflect in her voice. "…Alright, if you'd rather not talk about it, no pressure," she gently offered. "Maybe in time?"  
  
Blake relaxed significantly, Yang guessed she had been anxious over what could come out of her refusal. This time as she answered, she didn't sound downcast in any ways. "Yeah. Probably in time."  
  
Yang exhaled slowly, waiting another moment before she loosened up her hug. As Blake laid comfortably on top, almost weightless to her, she marveled at how well their bodies seemed to fit together. Her partner's slow breath warmed her breast and Yang quickly came aware again of how much she wanted to touch her again. "…Hey, kitten…" she quietly whispered, moving her fingers down her spine, "I’d like to make you feel good, now."  
  
"I feel good right now, being like this," Blake quietly answered, eyes still closed.   
  
Yang felt herself smile. It did feel good to simply be lying together, holding each other. But the embers of her yearning for the beautiful woman in her arms were quickly catching fire again and Yang wanted to take possession of her again. She slowly turned them around, forcing her on her back. Blake's words echoed in her mind, how she had whispered about where she liked her best on top of her. "Don't you want more than just cuddling?"  
  
Something playful crossed her features when Yang took control of her again, a veiled smile graced lips and she caressed her shoulders with both hands. "Do I?"  
  
And Yang felt herself growing hotter as she trapped her partner under her, thrilled with the frisky mood that was now taking over Blake's previously downcast one. "Yeah, you do," she confirmed.  
  
Her fingers leisurely moved down her arms and she arched her back a little, pressing into her. "Maybe it's you who wants more," the faunus suggested.  
  
"There's that too," Yang breathed, grinning. "But first I definitely, _definitely_ want to do things to you."  
  
Blake gave a pleased hum. "I wouldn't mind that…"  
  
"Wouldn't mind?" Yang repeated, her grin widening. "You want me to _blow your mind_ , you mean."  
  
"Yeah?" She purred almost inaudibly, her voice but a breath.  
  
"Yeah," Yang affirmed, her mouth finding her neck, then slowly exploring her skin downwards.  
  
Delicate hands found strong shoulders again, then the golden curls. "Any idea how you're going to do that?"  
  
"Well, to start with," she glanced up again at her, lips still against her skin. "If I'm not mistaken, I think that… last time, you _loved_ seeing my face between your legs." As she said this, for a fleeting moment, her partner's features betrayed visceral desire. Yang exhaled hotly, feverish passion completely engulfing her again. "Is that what you want, Blake?"  
  
Her ears flattened back for a second; she looked surprisingly embarrassed. "…It's not just about what I want," she trailed off, watching as the blonde still made her way down, "Yang, last time… I _made_ you do it. I should have asked you first,” she awkwardly said. “…You don't mind?"  
  
"Are you kidding?" Yang gripped her thigh, now grinning excitedly. "I’ve been _really_ looking forward to doing it again," she admitted, moving her hand up from her thigh, along her side, kneading her flesh, feeling the shape of her body again with the firm intent of memorizing its curves. "All this, it turns me on like crazy," Yang added, moving even further down. "Seeing you," she murmured, kissing her stomach, "touching you," she let her hand drift back down her waist, to her hip, "… _tasting_ you," she finished, taking a firm hold of her thigh again to force her legs open wider, earning herself a sharp inhalation from her partner. As she pressed closer between her legs, Yang could feel the wetness against her skin. Her lust flared to the point it made her dizzy. "You're so freaking hot, Blake," she moaned, her lips on her hip bone before she finally slid down to settle between her legs.  
  
Yang closed in on her, feeling her mouth watering and, though she couldn't quite remember Blake's taste, she did have the vivid memory of enjoying it immensely. She caressed her hips with both hands and, in response, Blake spread her legs a little wider. Unlike last time, the brawler didn't hesitate before sticking her mouth to hot, slick flesh. Blake seemed to instantly sink deeper in the mattress, groaning faintly as one of her hands found golden locks. Yang sucked her lips, then lengthily lapped, with each lick parting her even more, until she uncovered the hardened bud. She covered it with her mouth, slowly rubbing her tongue against it, thrilled with the way her partner writhed and cradled her head closer.  
  
She wrapped her arms around her thighs to hold her still when Blake started faintly rolling her hips in response to the gentle suctions and strokes of her tongue. The blonde eventually moved down lower, finding the opening with her tongue. There was a faint musky smell, her fluids were silky, even velvety, yet Blake barely tasted at all. Yang plunged deeper with her tongue, trying to get more than the subtle aftertaste, but it remained very elusive, only a hint of honeyed milkiness. The faunus was incredibly wet, and it smeared around her mouth, on her cheeks and nose, and Yang unreservedly pressed closer. Her shamelessness and open enthusiasm as she gorged on her apparently completely settled the faunus’s reservations with letting her do this and Blake thrust her hips a little more forcefully against her. She was doing her best to muffle soft cries with her hand, but her purring was still perceptible and Yang smiled, not stopping for a second.  
  
By now she understood that though Blake managed to mostly swallow down her moaning, which was a shame really, she was absolutely powerless to stop herself from purring. Her hand in her hair roamed through the blonde curls and Blake grinded harder against her and Yang's own breathing was starting to be labored. The air was hot and she felt drunk with Blake's taste, scent, muffled noises and passionate reactions. As the thought that she wouldn't have minded doing this until the next morning crossed her mind, she noticed how Blake now quivered, how her grip on her hair roughened up, how her sex seemed to be throbbing against her mouth. The faunus tensed up, she stopped moving and started closing her legs around her head in involuntary shudders, her hand on her mouth stifled harsh panting but still not the purring.  
  
Yang kept giving long, slow licks, still feeling almost imperceptible twitches of the opening against her tongue. Slowly, the tension in her legs went away and her breathing had slowed considerably. The blonde backed an inch, licking her lips, and leaned her cheek against the inside of her thigh to look up at her; Blake laid motionless with an arm over her eyes, still catching her breath. Very slowly, Yang moved up. She pressed her lips to her pelvis, unhurriedly up her stomach to her bellybutton, then to the side to find her hipbone, and so, so slowly to the center again, tracing with her tongue the vertical line of her faintly toned abdominal muscles. Blake's hands sluggishly found her hair again, caressing the back of her head, encouraging her to move up even more. Yang laid one last engrossed, _burning_ kiss on her stomach before shaking her head no, smiling.  
  
"I'm not done yet," she exhaled, sitting up. The blonde took the opportunity to finally discard her shorts and underwear before she took hold of both her partner’s thighs and repositioned herself closer, forcing her legs to spread wider again by settling between them. She moved her hand between Blake's legs, pushing two fingers all the way in until her palm laid flatly on her crotch. Yang then moved even closer, pressing her own sex against the back of her hand between Blake's legs and with the other hand gripped very tightly her hip for control. She then started rubbing herself against her own hand, which caused her palm to be pushed harder against the faunus, her fingers deeper in her.  
  
Blake's eyes widened and she arched her back, instantly following her partner's lead with a thrust of her own. "Oh God…" she shakily breathed out.  
  
With how awfully rare it was for Blake to say anything in the heat of the moment, this single murmur was enough to inflame Yang with consummate desire. At once, the vigor with which she rolled her hips doubled, pushing against the back of her hand, feeling her fingers forced deeper into the other woman with each impulse. The faunus pushed back avidly, rubbing into the palm of her hand, which was now slick with fluids. The blonde grunted in pleasure and her partner struggled and writhed, her chest and face reddened by exertion, bangs of jet black hair sticking to her cheeks with the sweat rolling off her skin. Watching her, Yang felt her raging hunger threaten to completely take over her lucid mind; it felt like she was losing herself so exceedingly erotic the experience was. She stared avidly at the faunus; Blake didn't seem to know what to do with herself. She'd thrust back and in turn clawed at the headboard of her bed, gripped the bedsheets or ran her hands on her own body. Rapidly losing control, Blake was coming undone and she threw her head back, moaning feverishly… and Yang, though gasping harshly for breaths that burned her throat, still felt herself grinning madly, wholly _possessed_ by her desire to make her scream.  
  
She'd never felt such purely carnal, indubitably _animal_ impulses before. Something overwhelming, intense and unquestionably primal seemed to dictate every one of her movements independently from what her rational self could've imagined. Her fingers on Blake’s hip gripped her flesh and she could only grind harder, sweat rolling down her shoulders and arms, transfixed with how her partner's body responded to her ferocious urges. Absolutely _fascinated_ with how her unprecedented, visceral hunger seemed to have stripped them both of what self-awareness could have been lingering, having them both relinquish themselves completely to the moment, to their pleasure. And in her uncharacteristically aggressive handling of her partner, the distinct thought that, right now, what she was doing definitely qualified as fucking Blake flashed through her mind; a thought she found especially hot. The blonde felt she was threading close to the edge herself.  
  
A shaky hand reached for Yang's still clutching her hip and Blake squeezed it as if she needed support. She then arched her back and suddenly stopped moving, pushing back keenly with her hips, and each breath came erratically, her purring louder than ever. Blake gasped for breath, trembling, and Yang halted too, giving up on her own climax as she opted to hold Blake steadily in place as she waited for her to finish riding her high.  
  
When the tension finally started leaving her body, Yang relaxed her grip on her hip, removing her hand from between their bodies. Running her fingers on her thighs, massaging her comfortingly, the blonde watched as her partner's eyes fluttered open and she blinked several times. Blake laughed quietly, then sniffed, bringing both hands to hide her face and she let out a sound that could have been either a sob or a laugh.  
  
“Blake…?” She stared at her in awe. “…Are you crying?"  
  
Blake sniffed again, pressing both her hands on her face as she took a deep breath. "My face is numb. I don't know what my body's doing…"  
  
The blonde still reassuringly massaged her thighs, observing her attentively. Her skin was flushed all over and she still trembled, though almost imperceptibly. "Are you okay…?"  
  
"I'm _fantastic,_ " she laughingly shot back before she took another deep breath and finally uncovered her face. Her eyes were wet with tears but glimmering with a vibrantly positive energy. With both hands, she reached out to her, inciting her to lie down.  
  
Now smiling again, Yang complied and lied back down, settling with her head on the other woman's chest. She could hear the heavy pounding of her heart gradually slow down. The faunus's skin was still damp and she exhaled heavily in the golden locks, wrapping her arms around her shoulders.  
  
"I think I saw fireworks," Blake whispered, pressing her cheek against the top of her head.

Yang laughed. "So I did it. I blew your mind," she cheekily shot back, returning the hug.  
  
"Quiet," she breathed tiredly, snuggling her.  
  
The blonde glanced up at her partner to see her with eyes closed, looking utterly exhausted. She observed her a moment, watching as Blake seemed to relax even more, until it became clear that she may be starting to drift off. "Don't fall asleep, I'm not done with you," she playfully warned.  
  
There was a grunt. "I'm not falling asleep," Blake then retorted, her voice still betraying her weariness. Her fingers languidly combed the golden curls and she exhaled deeply. "…You didn't finish, did you? I'll take care of that….."  
  
Her eyes were still on her partner's exquisite features, assessing her fatigue. "…I wouldn't say no if you were up for it," Yang started before she laughed once more and returned her head against her chest, rubbing her cheek on her breast. "…But you look like you might just fall asleep doing me," she pointed out. "I was joking by the way, it's fine if you'd rather nap."  
  
Blake exhaled lowly, shaking her head. "I _want_ to do it. I've been… fantasizing about going down on you again, in fact. Just give me a few minutes to recover…" she whispered. She gently hugged her head to her chest. "Climaxing tends to make me so drowsy… it's helpful otherwise, with how I frequently have trouble sleeping, but right now I’d gladly do without…" she mumbled.  
  
Instantly, Yang raised her head to stare at her partner again, bewildered. "…Are you saying you…masturbate to sleep?" As she asked, Blake’s eyes fluttered open and her expression had gone blank. There was a long silence and Yang felt she needed to make sure there could be no ambiguity to her question. "You’ve been doing it… with all of us in the room?"  
  
For a heartbeat, culpability was written all over her; her eyes had twitched open wider and her face had reddened again, her cat ears were flat for a second. Blake instantly caught herself, returning to a very even countenance, and cleared her throat. "I didn't say that."  
  
The blonde disentangled herself to prop her upper body up on her elbows, as their position had her straining her neck to look up at her partner."… _Wow_ , for real? You weren't scared of getting caught?"  
  
Her face darkened several shades of red. "Yang, I didn't say-"  
  
"Does that kind of thing turn you on?"  
  
At this point, Blake seemed to give up denying. She sighed and her gaze drift to the support boards of the bed above them. "...For the most part it’s just that I don't mind,” she admitted. “A lot of things happened in my past and… a lot of it just seems to surface without warning when I’m alone with my thoughts at night. Doing _that_ takes my mind off all of it on top of getting me drowsy. And since I can be silent when I do it…” she trailed off, still avoiding looking back at her.  
  
This unexpectedly serious answer dampened her playfully bemused mood and Yang felt compelled to comfort her, distract her, anything to liven her up again. Her lips found the skin most readily available to her. With the way they were lying, it happened to be her chest, and the blonde readily kissed her way to a nipple. Wrapping her mouth around it and rubbing it with her tongue earned her a quiet moan from her feline partner.  
  
“But… to answer your question,” Blake added, “I think… maybe being aware of how _you_ were sleeping so close, I guess… _that_ turned me on," she admitted.  
  
The image of Blake fantasizing about her in silence, getting herself off while Yang went to sleep a few feet from her had the blonde feel her body grow hot again. She herself never dared to do something like this; would she attempt relieving herself in that sort of setting, she knew she'd be found out given how noisy she tended to be. Sucking a little more intently on the erect nipple between her lips had one of Blake’s hands find the back of her neck in a massaging caress. Yang gave a last lick before she glanced up at her again. "…So. The other night, if I'd been okay with it too, you'd have wanted to do it? Even with Ruby and Weiss there?"  
  
Blake stared down at her unashamedly. "Had it been only up to me… yes. I was _dying_ to share this with you again. But. I knew you minded, so I stopped you," she admitted. Her long, delicate fingers lost themselves in the golden curls again, and she combed through them pensively for a long moment. Yang closed her eyes, relishing in the caresses. She would normally be very fussy about letting anyone touch her hair, but months ago in a debacle of an evening, Blake had benevolently taken upon herself to care for her. That evening was a fuzzy memory, however she _did_ remember coming to with her head in her partner’s lap and, more importantly, how startled she’d been by how much she was enjoying her partner’s gentle fingers in her hair. Reflecting on this made her wonder if her attraction to the dark haired woman dated to even back then.  
  
Blake's voice pulled her back out of her musings. "…Tell me, Yang,” she started. “Do you mind just… generally running the risk of getting caught? Or is it specifically risking getting caught by your sister?"  
  
It wasn't hard to figure out why Blake was asking; with their living arrangements, if they wanted to be able to be intimate more often, they most likely would need to be more liberal about the settings and locations. She took a second to think it over. If Blake wanted to jump her in a public or semi-public location with the risk of a stranger maybe catching them, would she turn her down? Probably not. "It's just Ruby," she concluded. No matter what angle she considered, she couldn't find it in herself to care about the risk of getting caught unless it was by her sister. Not if the alternative was waiting another two weeks to get it on with Blake again. "I can't… I mean, I practically raised her. You know I'm kinda protective of her and-"  
  
" _Kinda_ protective?" Blake cut in. "Is that how you call basically turning into mama bear?"  
  
Yang rolled her eyes. "…Whatever. Her being there distracts me."  
  
She let out an amused sort of scoff, though she did drop it. The brawler hugged her closer, snuggling to her breasts, and Blake still combed through the mane of blonde hair meditatively. It took another minute or so before she seemed to resolve on following up with what she actually wanted to know. "So… we can do it somewhere else, right? It doesn't have to be in a bed…? If I could find of a spot where rarely anyone ever goes… that would be okay with you?"  
  
"If there's one, _yes_ ," the blonde answered without hesitation. She pulled herself up to be face to face, still on top of her. "I can't wait another two weeks."  
  
Blake laughed. "Okay," she acknowledged, by all accounts satisfied with the answer she received. "…Though in a situation like that… wouldn't you be too loud…? We'd need to be discreet after all."  
  
"I don't care if _I_ can't get anything, I will still have a blast fucking _your_ brains out," Yang countered, leaning her forehead against her partner's. She cupped her cheek with one hand, gently caressing her skin with her thumb. "…Or eat you up."  
  
Blake's expression turned a little mischievous. "…That's actually what I want to do right now."  
  
"What?" Yang felt herself grin again.  
  
She guided her partner into switching positions and sat up, looking down at her. "Eat you up," Blake clarified. "I've been dying to do it."  
  
The blonde silently gazed back up at her. Blake, with her shining golden eyes, midnight colored hair uncharacteristically messy and uncovered cat ears perked up, with her flushed cheeks and immaculate skin almost glowing white in the darkness… was so impressively beautiful, she realized she forgot to breathe for a second. She could only gawk back in awe as the other woman lithely, with a strikingly feline quality to her movements, proceeded to crawl over her on all fours. The dark locks glided off the delicate frame of her shoulders as she reached out with both hands, gently taking Yang's wrists and pressed them to the mattress on each side of her head. Blake bent slowly, very slowly, until she brushed her lips to hers. Her hypnotizing gaze was still locked with Yang’s now half-lidded violet as the brawler docilely awaited the kiss that inevitably followed.  
  
Blake's kiss was featherlike at first, soft and slow, though it picked up very quickly. She pushed her tongue in her mouth and Yang was helplessly melting under her; she adored when her partner took control, when she was assertive this way. As Blake slowly let herself down, lying over the brawler now, she finally let go of her wrists to start her way down. She gave a wet kiss between her breasts, fully taking hold of both of them with her hands and pushing them together against her cheeks. Blake then took her time sucking on her skin to leave love bites all over her cleavage, massaging her chest, moving her mouth to the hardened tips, clearly enjoying herself as she did so.  
  
Yang hummed pleasingly. “Is that something you like about my body…?” She found herself asking.  
  
Mouth still stuck to her nipple, the faunus’s eyes darted up to meet her gaze. “Hmm?”  
  
“How large they are,” she specified. “You’re into that?”  
  
Blake closed her eyes and focused on tongue play for a second, getting the blonde to arch her back in pleasure with a gasp. She gave a last suck before she let go and looked up at her again. “I’d be attracted to you either way,” she started, “but I have to admit, I do… _really_ enjoy that they’re this large.”  
  
Yang felt herself smile. “You looked like you did,” she acknowledged as Blake went for her other breast, sucking so eagerly it made her gasp a vacillating moan. She then trailed between her breasts again, starting down her stomach, licking her skin from time to time. With her lips just above her bellybutton, the faunus pushed her middle finger inside her, having Yang buck her hips faintly under her; she hadn’t realized her partner had reached down there.  
  
"I also love how unbelievably hot it is inside you," Blake quietly commented, pushing forward with her finger to create mild pressure against the front wall.

Her smile widening and giving another pleased sigh, Yang brought both hands to the dark hair. Blake hadn't wanted to say a word about her fantasies a moment earlier, but she seemed to be in a talkative mood now.  "What else?" she murmured, closing her eyes as she felt the other woman’s tongue in her bellybutton.  
  
"You want to make me talk?" Blake whispered back, pushing in a second finger as her lips moved even lower on her stomach.  
  
The blonde nodded even if her partner wasn't looking. "The sound of your voice turns me on."  
  
Though Yang’s eyes were closed, Blake sounded amused enough for her to be able to guess she was smiling as she gave her answer. "You know, it's the same for me," the faunus admitted. Her lips now found the inside of her thigh and, the same she did with her breasts, she tenderly sucked her skin to leave red marks. "Your voice turns me on so much,” Blake exhaled quietly. “The way you say my name, the way you sound when you're about to cum..." Her breath was heavy and the hunger that showed through in her tone, in the way her fingers feverishly searched her skin as she groped her thigh, her hip, her stomach was something Yang had yet to get used to. The passion Blake hid underneath her detached and cynical front was one that had taken her aback at first, but giving it a second thought should’ve been expected given how alive she came with topics like social justice.  
  
The blonde moaned softly, her partner being more talkative than she ever could’ve hoped wasn’t lost on her and she decided that maybe, just maybe, if she prompted her Blake would keep going. "…What else?" she pressed, her voice thick with lust.  
  
"What else?" Blake repeated quietly, her tone mirroring her partner’s. The faunus’s lips quivered against her skin and Yang was electrified. "The way you taste, or the way you _smell_ , god… or the way your skin almost burns mine when you hold me so tight, when you moan my name like a prayer." She breathed hard against her stomach, warming it with every exhalation and her mouth left love bites whenever it touched her flesh. "And I also love the mesmerizing way your hair will glow…absolutely radiant, just like you…" she added, biting her skin gently as she slowly slid her fingers in and out, inciting a faint motion of her hips. "You're so, _so_ beautiful, Yang, inside and out," she professed almost inaudibly, "you’re the most beautiful person I have ever met," she then added in such an amorous and devoted tone that the blonde propped herself up on her elbows to watch her partner, uneasy. Blake was entirely absorbed in her worship of her and so was completely oblivious to the way Yang was now anxiously studying her. The midnight haired feline slowly pulled out her fingers. "Asking me what I fantasize about…?" She contemplated, raising her piercing golden eyes to lock gazes with hers. "…All of you, Yang, everything," she breathed lustfully, sucking her fingers.  
  
A powerful upsurge of lust nearly subjugated her, though being more aware than ever that they were treading dangerous waters grounded her coherent thoughts. "…Everything?" Yang repeated cautiously.  
  
" _Everything_ ," Blake stressed as she moved to press her mouth to her sex, thrusting both fingers back in.  
  
Her mind went blank as the rougher part of her partner's tongue rubbed against her. Her previous fretfulness and apprehensiveness were at once completely forgotten. Yang fell on her back again, clutching the bedsheets. "Oh my god," she gasped, "I didn't remember this felt so good…!"  
  
Her remark evidently pleased Blake immensely as a muffled purring sound started to rise from her again. Yang's eyes snapped open; she could _feel_ the rumbling vibrations the purring caused through Blake's mouth and tongue. "Fuck," she exhaled heavily. "Blake," she moaned, arching her back. "Blake, I f-feel your purring…"  
  
The faunus gave a long lick, smiling. "Does it feel good?" Her question was so quiet, it was almost drowned by her purring and she started sucking on her clit again.  
  
" _Amazing_ ," Yang shakily managed before moaning again, this time much louder. Her hips seemed to be moving on her own, she reacted to every flick of her partner's tongue, every suction, every motion of her lips. Feeling Blake's fingers pull out and the purring subsequently growing louder, with it the rumbling resounding even stronger against her sex, had Yang prop herself on her elbows again to look down at her partner. Blake was now touching herself as she ate her out; Yang felt another intense rush of desire course through her body, a maddening wave of heat that left a tingling feeling in all her extremities down to the tip of her toes. Yang’s hand was back in the midnight hair and she couldn't detach her eyes from her. "…Those the fingers you've had inside me?" she asked, though it was more of a statement than a question.  
  
The nod Blake gave was so faint, Yang may not have perceived it had her hand not been on her head. She rubbed her tongue a little more strongly, exhaling fast, hot breathes and Yang came aware that propping her herself up this way was becoming quite the effort; her arms had grown weak as they usually would when she knew she was getting close. She let herself down on her back again and, as Blake pressed closer, she instinctively spread her legs wider. It was everything she could do not to writhe too much and both her hands were rummaging through the silky black hair, scratching around cat ears, and Yang sighed in pleasure, murmuring her partner's name under her breath. The strong vibrations of the faunus's purring amplified the experience tenfold and the blonde already felt her body tense up, her toes curling, her eyes rolling back. She moaned lowly, unintentionally balling her hands into fists in the black locks, pulling her closer in a rough tug as she grinded against her mouth and she arched her back. Her body was on fire, her breath was running out and the other woman's name rolled off her tongue again. Once more she seemed to lose her senses, the whole world disappeared for in a flash, feeling suspended in time for a blissful moment.  
  
When she came aware of herself and her surroundings again, she noticed the weight of Blake's head just underneath her bellybutton. Glancing down let her see her partner with her forehead pressed against her stomach panting harshly. In her ecstasy she'd lost track of the last minute or so. Judging by the way the other woman laid motionless, relaxed and panting, she guessed she’d also reached her climax. "Blake…?" She attempted, her voice weaker than she'd expected.  
  
Receiving no feedback made it evident that Blake was utterly drained and Yang gathered herself enough to move. She half-sat and reached for her, taking it upon herself to drag her up on top of her as she settled on her back again. The faunus snuggled into her arms, pressing her face against her neck and Yang smiled contently, savoring the moment and the unrivalled bliss of being absolutely spent. Blake’s hot breaths seared into her chest with every exhalation and her skin was as slick with sweat as Yang’s own. The brawler couldn’t care less. The light weight of her partner on her felt more right than anything else ever did before and the silence that enveloped them was so peaceful, Yang wondered if there was an instance in her life when she had been more serene than in this very moment. Her fingers leisurely traced up and down her partner's spine, satisfied to merely just lay with her, and Blake's drastically slowing breath suggested she was drifting off to sleep. Yang decided to let her rest. Somehow, she managed to drag the bed covers over them without disturbing her.  
  
Her mind wandered to that night they’d talked for hours, exchanging heated kisses between heart-rending confessions. She had told Blake that they were complementary, and she was once again astoundingly aware of this. The other woman was nothing short of perfect in her arms. Moreover, Blake knew her inside and out. Blake read her body in combat as she did in bed like an open book. Blake listened to what she’d say, what laid behind everything she’d say, as well as what hid in her silences, all this as if that second pair of ears gave her the uncanny ability to hear it all. She wondered just how much Blake had read into her regarding what was happening between them. Had Blake already guessed what hid deep within her? Was she seeing what Yang had yet to decipher? Did she know how all this would end?

For the first time, she let her mind project somewhere into the future; she dared let herself imagine a fleeting image of the two of them building a life together. Her heart beat so hard it seemed to tear itself out of her chest and the thought was almost more than she could bear; she brusquely shook herself out of it. She didn’t even know for sure what Blake wanted anyways! And she was too young to think this way! One thing at a time, she told herself.  
  
She let time trickle by without knowing how long they ended up spending lying in silence. When her eyes eventually drifted to the drawn curtains, the fading light around its edges betrayed a darkening sky and Yang knew they had to start cleaning up very soon. It was already way past suppertime and their two teammates may already be on their way back. Her hand found the back of the raven head of hair, scratching her scalp comfortingly but vigorously enough to rouse her. "Hey, kitten…" she quietly started, "it’s okay if you want to sleep, but you need to at least put something on. Rubes and Weiss will be back soon."  
  
Blake groaned lightly and pressed her face into her torso, eliciting a short laugh from the blonde.  
  
"You're so cute when you're sleepy," Yang fondly murmured, caressing her dark hair with both hands, tracing around cat ears.  
  
"When I'm sleepy?" Blake repeated, her voice muffled by the flesh she was pressing into. "Are you saying I'm not typically cute?"  
  
"God no. You're cute. _Very_ cute. Often,” she defended. “But you're typically more on the sexy side than the cute side," Yang then added with a playful smile.  
  
Humming pensively and without raising her head from her comfortable spot on her breast, Blake glanced up to her partner, a very distinct gleam illuminating her golden eyes. "… Sexy, hmm?"  
  
Looking down at her, it felt like she was struck by her gaze and her breath caught in her throat. It was impressive how _literally_ breathtaking her partner was even in such a disheveled state. "Very," she whispered.  
  
With the way her features lit up in a smug smile, it was clear the faunus had picked up on her partner's fascination. Very slowly, she tilted her head just enough to take her nipple in her mouth, maintaining daring eye contact.  
  
To the brawler’s surprise, her body flared up again; after the last few hours, she would have thought she’d have had her fill, enough sex for one day! But feeling Blake’s tongue flick against her nipple and staring back into her enthrallingly sensual gaze was all it took for Yang to _need_ her again. "...Holy shit, Blake," she bit back a moan, gently caressing her head. "You can't do that…"  
  
As if challenged, she sucked harder, this time prompting faint whimpering from the other woman. "Of course I _can_ ," she argued, licking her lips.  
  
"…Please don't?" she implored, but her partner's tongue still traced around her hardened nipple. "We don't have time," she maintained.  
  
The dark haired faunus hummed again, evidently unconvinced. She resumed languidly sucking, her fingers now straying down her stomach. Yang stayed very still, but the hastening pace of her breathing, she knew, made her anticipation plainly obvious. Blake's gaze was still locked onto hers as she reached to feel how wet her partner had become again.  
  
"Look at yourself," she murmured, clearly relishing in the confirmation of what she undoubtedly already knew. "Just this and you’re already so worked up?" Her fingers, wet and sticky again, started massaging her flesh in a circular gesture. The blonde instantly was following along with her hips and the dark haired woman’s small grin turned smug. "Can't resist at all, can you?"  
  
Yang exhaled lowly, her hand in the dark locks clutched her head a little closer against her breast. "You're one to talk," she shot back under her breath. "You can't resist my hot body."  
  
"You're right, I can't," she purred.  
  
Yang had hoped her retort would be enough of a taunt for her partner to stop, to prove she _could_ resist, but Blake hadn’t taken the bait at all. Yang started down at her, a little slighted to have this little power.  
  
"Is that a problem?" Blake questioned with a smile, pushing a finger in.  
  
She closed her eyes, relishing in the gentle touch and the way she curled her finger inside her. "Damn it…" the blonde groaned, sighing again in pleasure. But… the clock and what its advance into the evening may bring tugged at the back of her mind, she glanced down at her partner again. "If Ruby walks in here and you're fingering me, _really_ mad won't even cover it."  
  
Blake chuckled. "So why don't you stop me?" She murmured as she slowly inserted a second finger, kissing her breast again, grazing her teeth to an erect nipple. “You’re so much stronger than I am,” she pointed out, thrusting her fingers at a pace she had obviously learned rendered the blonde senselessly helpless.  
  
Parting her lips to attempt an answer let a heated moan escape instead and Yang arched her back, pushing her hips against her palm; she _craved_ for her to go deeper.  
  
Instead, her fingers slowed to an excruciatingly lazy pace as Blake mercilessly teased her. "If you wanted to stop me, you could just… grab my wrist, pull my hand away," she suggested, obviously unfairly amused.  
  
Without a word, Yang aggressively flipped them around, grunting in displeasure as she felt Blake's hand suddenly forced away by her abrupt shift. She crashed her lips to hers again, pushing their bodies together, and Blake wrapped both arms around her waist, welcoming her entirely. Without reserve, she devoured her lips, caressing her cheek with one hand, grabbing her thigh with the other as Blake wrapped one leg around her.  
  
"Who's feisty now?" The dark haired woman whispered between kisses; Yang could feel her smile against her lips.  
  
"What’s gotten into you, taunting me like that?" The blonde questioned back, barely taking a second to breathe between her assaults on her partner’s lips.  
  
Blake moaned feebly into her mouth, pulling her closer with her arms around her shoulders, with her leg around her hips. “I want you,” she rapturously professed.  
  
Yang’s hand had found its way between her partner’s legs to notice she was also very much fired up. "I wouldn’t have guessed," she flatly retorted; it was her turn to smirk.  Her partner's frisky and provocative demeanor was quickly melting to give way to a needy and submissive disposition as she pressed her palm to her sex. Blake was so wet and hot, it seemed to inflame Yang’s body at once.  
  
Blake breathed out shakily, getting a hold of herself enough that her lips curled into a grin again. “You want me just as much," she pointed out. Having thrown shame out the window a long time ago, she rubbed into her hand in an attempt to incite more than just a little pressure. "Come on Yang," she then murmured seductively, returning one of her hands between her partner's legs to find her entrance, "one last go, then we get cleaned up," she added under her breath, not waiting for her answer before she resumed fingering her.  
  
Yang moaned again; leaning her forehead against hers, she closed her eyes for a second before gazing into the golden orbs again. "I swear… you'll be the end of me." With this, she moved her hand a little lower, laying her palm flatly against her clit as she slid two fingers inside of her.  
  
"Only because you're letting me," Blake accused breathlessly. She rolled her hips at the same pace at which she pushed her fingers inside her partner and Yang quickly fell in rhythm. The faunus was drenched and so aroused, adding in a third finger was no effort at all. Blake arched her back under her, whimpering, but still managed not to break eye contact.  
  
Her reaction made the blonde grin, she pressed her palm a little stronger against her, rubbing as she tried to pace herself. Blake's hand on her waist caressed up her back, gripping closer, and Yang still did her best to hold off some of her weight with one arm, though she was panting from the effort of doing so while still pleasing her partner, not to mention she felt herself grow weaker from how good Blake's long fingers felt inside her. Their skin was moist again and stuck together while her breath mingled with the other woman's heavy panting, warming both their faces. Blake's golden orbs gleamed, _burned_ with fevered passion and Yang was certain her own gaze mirrored the same thing.  
  
"Faster," Blake encouraged, very short of breath.  
  
The blonde complied, gradually increasing speed. Her wrist was cramping slightly, but she couldn't care less; Blake squirmed under her again and the way she couldn't keep quiet this time was such a turn on, Yang felt herself tread on the edge already. Her body was tensing up yet almost giving out and she leaned heavily on Blake, _somehow_ still managing to keep her lower body propped up enough to leave them both some maneuvering space. Yang had always felt she may be a little heavy for her partner but she simply couldn’t hold her upper body properly anymore. Blake thankfully didn't seem to mind her weight at all. "I'm close," Yang managed in a whisper.  
  
The faunus barely gave a faint nod, whimpering, doing her best to remember keeping a steady pace as she lost herself more and more in pleasure. She seemed to struggle over every harsh breath and yet her intense gaze stayed resolutely locked with the blonde's, boring through her. Yang didn't know if _knowing_ that Blake was about to cum, with the way she felt her tighten on her fingers or the way her nails dug in the skin of her shoulder, had been the last stroke she needed to reach her own climax, but as she felt Blake now stiffen up under her, she was instantly overcome by a rush, ecstasy. Her head went blank and crashed her lips to hers. Blake's moans were muffled in her mouth as she was shaken with a euphoric shudder. The faunus's grip on her intensified drastically and the low vibration in her chest started again, resonating against Yang's torso, seemingly soothing the loud hammering of her heart.  
  
Blake then also relaxed under her and slowly moved from her lips to kiss her cheek, her neck, her ear as she slid her hand from between their bodies to wrap both arms around her. She drew her even closer in a needy embrace, burying her face in the blonde mane. "I love the way you touch me," she murmured in her hair.  
  
Yang smiled to herself. "Good, because I wanna keep doing it," she quietly answered, returning the hug. They stayed motionless for a while, until both their breathing returned to normal. Then slowly, Yang disentangled herself so she could reposition her body in a way that most of her weight was on the mattress instead of her partner, still lying half over her. She laid her head on her chest and felt Blake's arms sluggishly go up to wrap themselves around her neck instead of her torso. Blake's soft breast under her cheek and her enthralling scent, the way her delicate body fit against hers, all of it was subjugating. Even as she thought _again_ that she was satisfied, she found herself yearning to caress her, yearning to explore her with her lips once more. Yang settled with snuggling closer, feeling her smile widening. "God, you're a drug; it's like I never have enough. The more I have, the more I want," she mused.  
  
In the long silence that followed, Yang closed her eyes, enjoying the gentle rocking of her chest faintly rising and falling again that came with every slow breath the faunus took. Blake was so still and silent, the blonde had been ready to assume she’d drifted to sleep again, but then she whispered her no longer awaited answer. "No matter what or how much more you want, it’s yours.”  
  
Yang felt her heart jump in her chest and her eyes snapped open, but she didn't dare move. She had meant to indicate something physical, biological, that _sexually_ …she kept wanting more… but… ‘ _more’_ in Blake’s response… was something entirely different wasn’t it…?  
  
Did Blake mean to suggest what she thought she had just understood? She _had_ to, right? …Because what else could it mean?  
  
…This was a confession of sorts, wasn’t it…?  
  
In a flash, she again was aware of all the instances the other woman had put up a barrier, evaded discussing their relationship, her feelings or desires… and, all at once, suspicions Yang had about what her partner may want were cemented into certainty. Blake was serious about her.  
  
How long had Blake been longing for something more than their friendship...? Had she been hoping for… romance? Or was she simply getting swept away with this recent unexpected turn to their relationship? They both obviously cared very deeply for each other and so, with this new addition of passion and discovery, was it blurring the lines for Blake? That was a distinct possibility. Yang had to admit she couldn’t see the lines clearly herself.  
  
After all, this was new and exciting… but would it stay this way? The harder a flame burns, the faster it goes out, doesn’t it? What if, once the novelty died down, they realized that this was nothing but deep friendship and that lust had them believe that they wanted to be together? Isn’t this the kind of situation that can ruin a friendship forever? She was petrified at the idea of jumping into something only to wreck all chances for this to be salvageable were they not meant to have more than quick passion, if _this_ simply happened to be convenient to their own self-discovery.  
  
But on the other hand, what if Blake was _not_ getting swept away…? What if this wasn’t new and she had time to think it through…and Blake _knew_ what this was to her? What if Blake _truly_ was… …  
  
The word was so terrifying she had to brace herself to simply complete her thought.  
  
What if Blake truly was _in love_ with her?  
  
And what if all of Yang’s fears that this was just trivial experimentation were completely unfounded? What if this unprecedented passion wasn’t the raging blaze she was under the impression it was but was in fact only the first spark of something so colossal she couldn’t even fathom yet? What if her own feelings were so much less complicated than they appeared to be…? What if she would never again connect with someone the way she did with Blake?  
  
She had to shake herself out of it. She couldn't assume Blake's feelings if she was to choose to do anything. She couldn’t gloss over _her own_ either. So she absolutely could _not_ do anything yet. She unquestionably wasn't ready to choose to do anything anyways and she would _not_ act on impulse again.  
  
She would need to move the conversation at hand away from this. It took another moment before she found it in herself to open her mouth again. "…What if I eventually get to a point where I do want… that much more…?" she found herself questioning to her own surprise. Hadn't she _just_ elected they couldn't broach this yet? What the hell was she saying?  
  
"…Don't say things like that without thinking it through."  
  
This warning reinforced Yang's impression that Blake had meant to use the opportunity to come clean. That she meant to open the door would Yang ever come to want to let this become something more. "Did _you_ think through what you said?" she countered, though she wanted to kick herself.  
  
She was silent again for a long time, then gave a resigned sigh. "….Maybe not," Blake offered quietly. Her hands around Yang's shoulders perceptibly tensed up; her fingers pressed into her flesh, betraying Blake's uneasiness. "Sorry."  
  
Her heart painfully constricted in her chest. She clearly understood she'd just hurt her and she utterly _loathed_ herself for it. She would have hoped to be someone whom Blake would never feel the need to shield herself from. On that night the dark haired faunus had finally opened up a bit, that desire had been reinforced tenfold. And yet still.  
  
"…Don't be sorry Blake. I'm just…" Yang started in dismay but found herself pausing, uncertain whether or not she should actually proceed; she had nothing substantial to offer her after all. Though she also knew she couldn't just leave things up in the air. Yang gently kissed what skin of Blake’s was available to her with the way they were laying, not without the reflection that where she kissed was right over her heart. Her so very precious heart. Yang couldn’t say she wasn’t tempted to take her up on her offer. To take however more she fancied. To take _more_. To take that heart.  
  
But she couldn’t, not until she was certain she could do right by her. Not until she was certain she could offer her own in exchange.  
  
She cared too much to be reckless any further. She was all too aware of how emotionally fragile Blake was underneath that cynical mask of hers, and Yang knew that, unless she knew _for sure_ she felt the same way, taking what was left of her heart would only end up in disaster.

The idea of selfishly robbing her of it and leaving her wanting conjured up in her mind the heartbreaking vision of Blake’s chest cavity left hollow and Yang pressed her face against her warm flesh, desperate for reassurance.  
  
"I meant it, okay?" She ended up declaring. "I should've thought twice before saying anything, but… I…I meant it. I really may get to a point where I’ll want… _more_ ," she admitted, exhaling shakily. With her head still lying on her chest, she could hear her partner's heart pick up pace drastically and the blonde had to close her eyes to gather her courage to keep talking. "I haven't exactly figured myself out yet, I still… have to come to terms with what this means to me… or _about_ me too… a-and how… how I envision the future…" she continued very carefully. “But the closer we get and the more I am with you… the more I…” she trailed off, not really knowing how to sincerely finish this sentence while still neither getting her hopes up nor hurting her. She shut her eyes and hugged her tighter.

"All I know is that I need you,” she breathed. “And I don't mean that in a sexual way." As she said this, she realized that after the last hours of passion, her words could sound hollow. "…I mean, not _just_ in a sexual way," she corrected, finally daring to look up at the other woman. "I need you by my side," Yang then avowed, her voice absolutely resolute. "And…no matter what comes out of this… I don't want to lose you. Okay?"  
  
Blake stared back at her and Yang couldn't help wondering how it was possible that with so many different emotions storming her eyes, Blake still was entirely unreadable. It took another moment, but the corner of her lips rounded up into a small yet very genuine smile. "Yeah, okay," Blake gently murmured. Very tenderly, she cupped her cheek, letting her hand find its way in the blonde mane. "You're so, so important to me, Yang. I never want to lose you either."  
  
It was flagrant to her how the other woman’s response was neither infirming nor confirming any of her own intentions towards what was being broached. How Blake _again_ omitted to comment on how _she_ felt and what _she_ wanted only in favor of agreeing to a temporary stalemate. Yang quite understood why, after all, would Blake acknowledge any part of this confusing rant, it may indeed definitely rip off the thin veil that still remained over what couldn’t be said yet.

Nevertheless, what small answer she did receive had gone leagues in reassuring her, because really, the most important part was that no matter the outcome, they remain at each other’s side. Yang found herself smiling back at her. Blake’s hand in her hair was so enticing, she pressed her head against her palm, which slowly slid to her cheek and along her jaw and Yang found herself kissing her palm burningly. She wanted to kiss her. Given the subject they had just grazed, she knew it could very well be taken as an unspoken promise, but she was completely powerless to repress her desire to. Yang slowly lifted herself just enough to move from her spot on her chest to be face to face.  
  
Blake looked up at her with that indecipherable gaze of hers, the one that had made her seem so enigmatic and impenetrable for so long. The one that made it seem like she had retreated to the depths of a fortress with insurmountably high walls. The way she was withdrawing from the conversation made it clear that Blake felt she had taken it a step too far and that she now felt the need to hide herself. It made her seem so far away and Yang felt a sort of ache she'd never felt before, something that got her at the very core of her being.

She wanted to tell her not to run or hide because she never wanted to hurt her. She despised the very idea of doing anything that would hurt her. Yet she still just a moment ago had hurt her, hadn’t she? And it wasn't like she could realistically promise she wouldn’t again. She exhaled shakily, wondering how it’d come to this.  
  
“Were you going to kiss me?” Blake’s quiet voice tore her back into the moment.  
  
“I… yeah, I want to,” she conceded, more hesitant that she would’ve liked to show herself.  
  
Her impermeable mask let through genuine puzzlement. “But?”  
  
It was valid confusion given how carnal the last hours had been and yet, Yang almost felt a stranger to her when she closed herself off this way. “You feel far away,” she admitted dejectedly.  
  
At this, as if she abruptly realized what she’d been doing, whatever it was that had her come off as guarded completely crumbled. Her expression, her gaze, her demeanor, it all changed to something so genuinely caring and welcoming. “I’m right here with you,” Blake gently said.  
  
The concept that in spite of everything, of her difficult past, of how their hazardous situation, of how unreliable Yang presently was and of the fact that she’d already hurt her multiple times ….Blake was _still_ this readily willing to let down her barriers for her had her throat knotted painfully. She blinked back the fogginess clouding her vision. “I meant it when I said I _need_ you with me, Blake,” she earnestly reiterated.  
  
Time was suspended for what appeared to be an interminable moment, and then the dark haired faunus wordlessly cupped her face with both hands to incite her to lean down; Yang readily obliged.  
  
Blake’s kiss was everything a lover’s should be. Deeply tender and ardently yearning and earnestly dedicated and Yang wondered if anyone would ever kiss her again the way Blake did. What was she thinking…? Right that moment, the very idea of _ever_ kissing someone else than Blake felt ludicrous. Blake's fingers entangled in her hair were soothing and so inviting, she almost forgot they couldn't laze any longer. She probably would have forgotten had Blake not been her usual reasonable self and pulled away to meet her gaze.  
  
“We have to get cleaned up.” This reminder was evidently voiced as an implicit request to be let go of.  
  
With an understanding nod, the blonde made herself get off the faunus to sit up. "You want to shower first?"  
  
Blake sighed, sitting up too. "Not that I _want_ to go before you, but I know I’d better do so,” she nonchalantly rationalized, earning herself a quizzical look. “Your showers can be interminable."  
  
Yang scoffed, finding herself laughing. "Yeah, 'cause I'm not a water-phobic cat."  
  
"I don't hate water, I'm just efficient," she stated matter-of-factly as she slid out of bed.  
  
"Right," Yang laughed, reaching out for a harmless slap on her butt before she was out of range.  
  
Blake stuck her tongue at her as she headed to the bathroom.  
  
"Don't stick your tongue at me if you're not about to use it!" She called to her back, dropping her head on the pillow.  


* * *

  
  
  
"Did you find what you wanted for Crescent Rose?" Yang smiled, drying her hair with a towel.  
  
"I found everything I needed _and more_!" Ruby excitedly answered, pulling out a few boxes of the huge plastic bags she had been carrying. "See, when Weiss was looking up dust, I was-"  
  
Blake looked on as her partner chatted animatedly with her younger sibling. She picked up her latest reading material from her desk and walk over to drop herself on her bed again. Lying with her head in her pillows, she was overcome with the distinct scent now imprinted on her beddings, jolting her with memories of what had just taken place and alas… completely waking her desires again. Her bed definitely smelled like Yang. Blake couldn't repress the faint smile gracing her lips as she turned on her stomach, head in her pillows, eyes riveted on the silhouette of the gorgeous woman she was lucky enough to call her lover.  
  
"Hey …Blake?" Weiss's voice interrupted her daydreaming.

 

She didn't move. "Yes?"  
  
"I got you some dust for Gambol Shroud since it was a big help on Mountain Glenn," she started, "…and…" Weiss trailed off, thrown off by Blake's lack of focus. She glanced back towards the two siblings in an attempt to identify the reason her interlocutor wasn't paying much attention to her but, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she turned back to the faunus. "Blake, is something the matter?"  
  
Instantly, she pulled herself out of her daze, sitting up. "Uh? No, I-… No, I'm sorry, what were you saying?" With this, she still found herself glancing towards her partner.  
  
Weiss blinked quickly a few times, looking concerned. She extended a small bag in her direction. "Just…Dust. For you."  
  
"Oh! Thank you," Blake gratefully took the bag, peeking inside before looking back up at her teammate. "Why?"  
  
"It was useful on Mountain Glenn, it could help make a difference in the Vytal tournament," Weiss explained.  
  
"Good thinking, thank you." She nodded and leaned back. As she did so, the scent coming from her bedsheets seemed to hit her again. Her eyes drifted to the red and yellow silhouettes in spite of herself.  
  
Weiss frowned. "Did you want to see what Ruby bought?"  
  
Blake looked back at the small bag of dust in her hand, then at the snow haired lady. "Not especially, why?"  
  
"You keep looking over at them," she pointed out curiously.  
  
"Oh. Uh, no, just…" Blake racked her brain to try and come up with an excuse, but all she could think of when she glanced again at the two sisters was her blonde partner's naked body pressed against hers. She averted her eyes yet again, powerless to ward away the images invading her mind. "It doesn't matter. It's nothing," she awkwardly mumbled, wishing fervently for her white haired friend to move on.  
  
Weiss furrowed her brow even further, squinting her eyes. A very displeased "Hmm," was all she presented as an answer, apparently opting not to press the matter further. With a sigh, she looked around, her eyes falling on the drawn curtains. "It's hot and stuffy in here, mind if I open the windows?"  
  
This only reminded her _again_ of their previous deeds; the humidity left over in the room was definitely their doing. "Go ahead," Blake acquiesced, keeping her voice as casual as possible.  
  
The heiress went on to pull open the curtains and window. Meanwhile, Blake's eyes drifted to the blonde again. Even though they'd _just_ been together and she should have felt relief from the pent up frustration of the last days, the scent of them lingering on her bed only had her craving for more. The draft brought by the now open window made her blonde hair sway gently, and her laugh as she animatedly chatted with their younger leader was irresistibly charming. The faunus sighed, dropping her head on her pillow again. Not knowing how long it would be before she could possess her again was dismaying, especially with how embers of her lust were kept very much alive by the scent left on the bed she was lying in. She wondered if Yang would accept to sleep with her again, just sleep. Curling up against her tremendous warmth may offer Blake some solace from this hunger flaring. She watched as Weiss joined the two siblings, urging her short haired partner to pick up after herself and get ready for bed. They did have class in the morning.  
  
Yang trotted over to her. She leaned over with both forearms against the wooden structure of the top bed. "Looks like someone's tired," she grinned. "Going to sleep already?"  
  
"…My bed smells like you," Blake answered in a breath, completely disregarding her playful jab. She noticed that the love bites she remembered leaving on her chest, stomach and thighs had been healed by her aura.  
  
The blonde laughed and Blake thought the grin on her lips was simply to die for. "Isn't that what you wanted?" Yang shot back.  
  
"…It was. But I feel like an idiot for not having anticipated the consequences." Her eyes flowed down her figure to her thighs left uncovered by her short pajama shorts. It would only be a few inches to lean over and kiss her skin.  
  
"What does that mean?"  
  
She was fixated on her skin, staring at her toned legs. "How smelling you on my bed turns me on so, so much," she admitted. "And we can't do anything about it until god knows when."  
  
"You're insatiable," Yang amazedly whispered.  
  
"Maybe I'm in heat." Her eyes followed Weiss as she disappeared into the bathroom to start her night routine. Ruby hid herself in her bed-tent to get changed into her nightwear.  
  
She looked confused. "Faunus get that?"  
  
Blake took advantage of these few minutes alone to lean over and press her lips to her thigh burningly. "No, not really," she muttered, slowly kissing up. "It was a bad joke," she then added, sucking gently on her skin every so often, still moving up. She reached the edge of her tiny shorts and Blake traced her tongue along the fabric, inches from what she really wanted to taste. Yang's skin smelled soapy clean from the shower she’d just taken, but as Blake had progressed, she had unmistakably been able to distinguish the faint scent of her getting aroused again. Blake leaned her head on her hip, gnawing harmlessly at the fabric of her shorts. "I may not be in heat," she whispered, "…but I certainly want you like an animal."  
  
Yang could only stare down at her, speechless. Blake's breath burnt through the thin garment, over where her tongue would be if only they were alone. They heard the bathroom door open and Blake leaned back to put herself at a more conservative distance, though she knew the damage was done. She could tell how turned on her partner was from the subtle change in breathing and the scent only she could detect. Blake slowly raised her gaze to meet deep pools of dark amethyst fixedly staring down at her, hypnotized.  
  
It then looked like it took everything in her for her to step back. Yang exhaled heavily. "…I'm hungry," she declared, her voice strained. "I'm going to the cafeteria, get something to eat," she added, swiftly turning her back to the faunus. She was out the door in a flash, leaving their two teammates a little confused with her sudden exit.  
  
Blake was very aware of how predatory her gaze was as it followed her until she had disappeared…. but she couldn’t help it. She exhaled softly. With the stunt she'd just pulled, she wasn't surprised Yang suddenly needed to get some air. And to tell the truth, it may indeed be for the best; it would let the both of them settle down enough to go to bed. As she leaned back in her pillows and picked up her novel, she suddenly came aware of a nagging sense of being watched. Sure enough, as she glanced to her teammates, she found icy blue eyes were attentively studying her.  
  
Blake held her gaze for a moment, wondering what her friend was searching for scrutinizing her this way. Weiss frowned lightly, apparently troubled, but seemed to opt to resume her nightly routine. Blake felt her heart sink to the pit of her stomach, suddenly worried. Her friend couldn’t be having doubts about what was going on… could she? But if she _did_ … about what part of all this? Would it be an issue? Would this go down the same way Weiss first learning she was a faunus had...? How precarious could this be for the team? She watched her another moment, hoping against her better judgment that the bothered look on her teammate's features was independent of the way she'd just been staring at her.  


**tbc**

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter05 was originally 13529, it’s now 15912

"Bumbleby!" Ruby's voice rang through the training hall as a crimson afterimage vanished out of the way.

Blake's feet hadn't hit the ground, yet Gambol Shroud's handle was already halfway through the room and the brawler caught it like it was her own weapon. The faunus was about to land and swing the blonde into close combat when she felt herself yanked up again, hurled through the air by the other end of her own weapon. A surprised glance to the blur of fire that she called her partner had her meet fretful scarlet eyes and, as Blake traveled through the air like a projectile, she flipped around to see the exact spot where she was about to land consumed with a vicious electric explosion. She was thankful for the save, but did Yang  _ really _ need to catapult her so high?

"She can teleport?!" Nora exclaimed animatedly.

"No, she's up there," Ren pointed up and his partner's vivid green eyes found her previous target.

The dark haired faunus noticed their leader and her partner had moved on to challenging Pyrrha and Jaune; she promptly resolved for Yang and her to do their part and overcome their own opponents. Her thoughts went a million miles an hour and, in this second, Blake noticed the arch her body described through the air would have her land too far out of combat. Before she could think twice about how horrible of an idea this might be, she called to her partner.

"Yang! The other way!"

The blonde instantly obeyed, grabbing hold of Gambol Shroud's lash with both hands instead of one and swinging her full force back into combat; Blake wondered if her body ever had traveled so fast in her life. In a heartbeat, she was inches from the powerful redhead and yet the sharp edge of her black scabbard didn't slam into her. The chink of metal colliding between her own weapon and Ren's double blades resonated through her bones with a disagreeable jolt. Blake still used her momentum to kick him with both feet and propel herself high in the air again in a backflip. Her eyes traveled the black line of her weapon’s lash to notice her partner was still holding onto the other end.

"Again!"

Yang stomped her foot forward in a wider stance and swung again, sending Blake back towards their opponents for the second time, somehow even faster. Once again, Blake wondered why the hell did she think it a good idea to be flung around with such force; she'd  _ much _ rather be the one in control of her partner. Ren jumped out of the way this time and Nora got ready to club her into the moon; Blake let a shadow clone take the hit as she used the top of the hammer to once more somersault out of the way. With this backflip, Blake landed a few feet from her burning partner; the fire trailing the golden girl unexpectedly didn't emanate as much heat as she expected as Yang handed her Gambol Shroud's handle back. For a second, Blake thought they could finally regroup. She was proven wrong as she instantly had to leap out of the way again to avoid Magnhild; it thundered exactly where she'd been standing, crushing yet another copy of herself.

"Another fake one!?" Nora unnervedly groaned.

"Why do you  _ insist _ on trying to crush my kitten?!" Yang seethed, the fire in her hair seemingly doubling in intensity as she lunged forward. Blake found solid ground again to see her partner land a powerful hook, sending the short haired redhead a few feet back. She was very impressed to see Nora still standing.

"Maybe I should pick on you instead?" Nora laughed.

"Yeah!? Come at me!" The fiery blonde roared, shooting blazing dust shotgun shells at her and the tall young man.

Blake's eyes flickered towards the other half of her team to see how they fared. Ruby and Weiss were desperately trying to stop Pyrrha from approaching the block of ice in which Jaune was trapped. Golden orbs sharply analyzed their movements; if she knew her friends as well as she thought she did, things were not going well. Crescent Rose was a heavy weapon for a small girl so if Ruby was stuck in an extended confrontation, its weight could certainly take a toll on her. To counterbalance this and give herself an edge, she had been abusing her speed semblance... which only drained her faster. At this point, it looked like even Weiss was starting to have trouble predicting her partner's movements. They however managed to fall into a team attack, yet with Pyrrha being easily worth any two of them… the Ice Flower bullets were doing very little to keep the tall redhead at bay.

The faunus's assessment of the situation was done in only a few seconds, a violent explosion brought her back to her own duel. Light and heat forced her to squint, but she wasn't surprised to see the familiar silhouette of her partner emerging from it unscathed. Yang grounded herself to her side in a ready stance, her red gaze promptly finding their opponents again.

Both Ren and Nora also seemed to have realized their teammates were locked in what wouldn't be an even match for very long. Everyone was also quite aware that this training match had become two doubles. They would be butting heads as pairs until one half of either team won their respective match and moved to help its remaining pair in order to settle the match. The faunus sighed. "Yang," she softly called. "If we don't hurry, Ruby will exhaust herself, she's been exploiting her semblance too much and Weiss won't keep up with her much longer. If Pyrrha outlasts them, we're done."

"You're right." The vibrant red eyes darted between their two challengers and their teammates. "What's your plan?"

Blake wasn't even surprised. Of course Yang would understand this meant she had some sort of strategy. "It's not  _ really  _ a plan."

"What is it?"

She stepped closer, in her partner's brilliant aura, not without the fleeting thought that her place was not in the light. "If you land just one hit on Ren, I know you can take him down. I'll distract Nora." She saw the red orbs snap to her, surprising her with blatant disapproval. "Then we'll have the upper hand," Blake still tried arguing.

"I don't like it," Yang objected. "Nora is raw power, she lands a hit on  _ you _ and you're out."

Blake had to pause for a second. Throughout many years, she had paired up with Adam, who also happened to have a reactive semblance. For this reason, working with Yang hadn't required much adaptation. However, her former faunus partner would often ask her to buy time, take hits, or divert the enemy's attention… while her current partner had a much greater regard for her safety, and  _ that _ , she had to adapt to. She couldn't help her lips curling up into a small smile. "Don't worry," Blake promptly attempted to reassure her, "I don't intend on risking getting hit; I just need to destabilize her for a second. It's easy."

Before her partner could argue another word, Blake leaped forward, swinging her weapon full force. Both their opponents seemed surprised to see the dagger form of Gambol Shroud zoom past Ren, having seemingly expected to have the faunus's offensive target him while the two powerhouses faced off. The lash wrapped itself around the handle of Nora's hammer and Blake swung her body weight to yank the weapon out of her grasp; this was enough distraction to give Yang the opportunity to charge forward in an impressive explosion. Both of her fists collided with the young man's chest and he was sent flying a hundred feet into the wall.

At this, Nora shrieked in horror. She then did something Blake didn't understand before it was too late; she picked up her hammer and hurled it in Yang's very precise direction. It seemed counter-intuitive, but Blake noticed too late she still had one extremity of the lash tangled to Magnhild, binding her wrist to it. The split second it took for Ren to be knocked out and Nora to chuck the impressively heavy hammer definitely wasn't enough time for the dark haired woman to free herself from the improvised projectile and she was sent flying along with it at lightning speed. The faunus almost instantaneously crossed the distance between Nora and Yang; all Blake saw was her partner's eyes widen in alarm as she dodged the hammer before she shut her own eyes, flying across the room towards the opposite wall, bracing herself for an impact that was certain. An impact that turned out to be not  _ nearly _ as violent as she expected it to be.

Shaken, Blake opened her eyes to realize that instead of completely stepping out of the way, the blonde had avoided the hammer before moving back in and catching her. Yang's back had slammed into the wall, effectively shielding Blake from the worst of it. They now laid in rubble and debris at the other end of the room. "Yang," she started, but with the dusty residue filling the air, she found herself coughing.

The blonde's answer was giving a faint grunt as she loosened her embrace on her. Her hair was intensely brilliant from the force she'd absorbed from the hit.

Blake separated herself from the other woman, worryingly trying to meet her gaze. "Oh god, Yang, are you okay? You shouldn't have-"

"Yes.  _ Yes. _ I should," Yang cut in. Her eyes were an explosive red and her body was now emitting scorching heat; the faunus was forced to move back. "You could've gotten badly hurt, whereas my semblance is  _ great _ for this," the blonde groaned as she slowly stood, and her gaze snapped back to their opponent. Nora had run up to her own partner, anxiously fussing over him, checking on his depleted aura on her scroll. "I'm charged up now."

The urge to comment on how Yang relied overly excessively on her semblance and raw power rose, but Blake bit her tongue.She knew her partner was too fired up at the moment to listen to any cautionary words, but she  _ did _ make a note to bring it up with her in the near future, at least before the Vytal Tournament. Yang would constantly act as if she was invincible, yet they'd learned the hard way in that train against Roman's group that if the blonde ever took a hit she couldn't withstand and got knocked out, things could go horribly wrong.

Blake stood too and before anything else could be said, Yang, completely ablaze, was already closing in on a now disarmed Nora. And though Nora was herself unbelievably strong… that very strength was being used against her thanks to the force harvested from Magnhild's throw and in addition was Yang's own absurd strength. It was far too devastating for the redhead to withstand.

The faunus dusted herself and picked up her weapon; her gaze wandered to the other half of her team's duel. Jaune had somehow liberated himself but looked to be more of a hindrance to the warrior he called his partner than anything else. The match was settled; Pyrrha may have been a great fighter, but with only the blond young man as her support, there was no way she would win against the four of them. Tremendous heat warmed her side, making her aware of her partner now standing next to her.

Blake's eyes drifted to her.

Her, in all her blazing glory, flames licking her skin and hair vividly luminous, magnificent, like the sun itself. Crimson eyes confidently met her gaze with a cheeky grin and her radiating self-assurance forced Blake to acknowledge once again just how utterly magnetic she found her.

"Are we putting an end to this?" Yang breathed excitedly.

Blake couldn't help mirroring a small smile in response. "Let's go."

It was over in no more than a few minutes. Pyrrha, already weary from holding off Ruby and Weiss, stood no chance against the four of them. Though quite bruised, team JNPR was able to pick itself up and shake hands in good sportsmanship. It had gotten quite late in the evening and most students had already gone back to the dorms, it wasn't long after this that they too left the training hall. Blake however opted to stay behind, as she saw her partner needed to work off the rest of the energy she'd absorbed from the earlier impact.

For a time, her eyes followed her partner's shape as the blonde obliterated target after target, her hair slowly being drained of its luminosity to turn back to its regular golden. It was well over an hour after all the other students had left for the night that Yang finally seemed to have exhausted her inferno. As she trotted towards the locker room, she seemed surprised to see Blake had lingered behind.

"Had I known you'd wait for me, I wouldn't have taken my time," she said apologetically. Still, a smile graced her lips. "Why didn't you go with Rubes and Weiss?"

"I like watching you," Blake found herself saying before she could stop herself. It was true after all. "Especially when you're fired up this way."

Yang's smile widened into a mischievous grin. "Right, I remember you telling me you liked the glow of my hair."

For a second, the memory of kissing her partner's stomach again, telling her how she loved  _ everything _ about her, invaded her mind. Blake didn't know what had gotten into her then, straying so close to confessing something she had resolved not to breathe a word of, not until the other woman gave her a sign that she was ready to hear them. Honey eyes still stayed on her amethyst ones. "I do. I find your semblance captivating. I feel it's a great reflection of your soul."

"Is it?"

"It is,” she swiftly confirmed. “Your fire is a projection of your fierce passion, your alluring warmth, it's even your incorrigible temper,” she explained. “And your light--" Blake stopped herself. A discomfited blush was creeping on her partner's cheeks and it had her understand that, again, she was saying too much. More than once already she had tested the waters, more than once she had hinted at her feelings, and she knew this sort of gushing over her partner had started making her uncomfortable. She knew if she praised her yet again, it would only make Yang feel like she was being pressured into broaching this topic they had been tiptoeing around. The faunus decided to save themselves some awkwardness and thus chose to cut short the eulogizing rant she was about to go on. " …Your light is simply beautiful," she summarized. "I can't help standing by to watch."

The blonde seemed to swallow down most of her uneasiness to put on some sort of bravado. "Well, no need to lurk and watch from the shadows. You stalker."

Blake raised her eyebrows. And here she had attempted to spare her. However, if Yang wanted to tease her, she wouldn't let her have the last word. "I thought me being your partner made it okay to hang around and watch you," she started casually and, in spite of her best attempt at a straight face, she felt the corner of her lips go up into a faint smirk. "Though were I not your partner, then yeah. You can bet I'd still hang around, and I definitely  _ would _ qualify as a stalker."

She reddened again and pursed her lips. "Are you trying to make me blush?"

"Not trying, though succeeding."

"Whatever."

Yang, maybe more flustered than she should have been, stomped through the locker room to the one that was her own. She punched in the code, the door unlocked itself, and she clicked her cuffs off to put Ember Celica away in her locker; they weren't allowed to carry their weapons inside the school after all. Blake opened her own locker, storing Gambol Shroud before she started undoing the lash around her arm. Standing with her back to the brawler at first, she couldn't help glancing back to observe her partner slide her tan blazer off and dusting it. Clad only in the ass-cape Yang called a mini skirt and that yellow tube crop-top, quite a lot of skin was exposed.

Blake's eyes surveyed her figure for the millionth time. She would never get tired of watching her, even if she could only admire her backside right now.  
  
Those absurd proportions would make any woman envious; her large breasts held an incredible shape and her hips only looked wider with the tight core she managed to maintain thanks to her vigorous training. Yang was strong,  _ looked _ strong, and yet she still retained a natural, effortless femininity. The faunus left her locker open and stepped behind her; Yang manifestly sensed her approach, she stopped moving.  
  
Standing only a few inches behind her, Blake ran her hands over her naked shoulders. With her fingers, she drew the faintly defined lines of her well-built frame, of her muscular back under the golden curls, then followed back up her strong shoulders to go down her firm arms. "I haven't thanked you for catching me," she quietly began. "I honestly don't think I would've withstood that hit, I'm not as resilient as you are."

"It was just the smart thing to do given my semblance." She hung her vest in her locker before removing her fingerless gloves, then she paused again. Her voice was nothing but a whisper as the blonde continued. "…My heart nearly stopped when I thought you would hit the wall the same way Ren did."

Blake frowned to herself. Although she knew Yang wasn't saying this because she looked down on her abilities as a fighter, she still felt the need to assert her place at the other woman's side. "I'm your partner, not a helpless soul you need to protect," she sternly reminded her. Blake's fingers, having been examining her frame as they talked, stopped on a scar on the blonde's shoulder blade, an old cut that had evidently been too deep to be completely healed by her aura. "It's inevitable I get hurt eventually, I'm prepared for that."

"I know. I know all that  _ very well _ ," Yang muttered, hanging her head lower. "And I know it goes both ways. There will be times you’ll have to protect  _ me _ and sometimes you won't be able to. But…" She breathed out a long exhalation; Blake's fingers tracing her back underneath the blonde mane had seemed to have given her goosebumps once they reached her spine and started to follow down to her lower back. "... When I think of anything happening to your pretty ass... if anything  _ did  _ happen, I couldn't be held accountable for my actions."

She knew Yang had tried to alleviate her statement with a bit of humorous wording, but Blake nevertheless could only hear what was implied with this confession; her partner had grown so unbelievably protective of her that she couldn't promise to keep her cool even in a training match against friends. Blake felt her chest constrict. She knew she undeniably was very dear to the other woman, but this small gap between caring a lot and being  _ in love _ seemed to her like a bottomless, immeasurable chasm, an excruciatingly painful divide. Yang's words and their implied meaning often tipped the line… yet she'd keep an unfair distance, and the throbbing it caused to Blake's heart was torturing her.

She stepped a little closer, wondering if Yang could feel her breathing against her shoulder. "Nora would never seriously hurt me, she would've stopped before doing serious damage," she tried to reason, searching to rein in the conversation, a veiled attempt to help her partner backtrack from her blindly devoted and protective statements, into a line of thought that would’ve been standard for friends and partners… into something that didn't make Blake suffer to her very soul.

Yang, blissfully unaware of this, shrugged. "I would've argued the same thing… but she honestly seemed to have lost it for a second there, when I knocked Ren out. And it scared me. Both because I thought you might get hurt and because… if she  _ did _ hurt you, even if it's Nora and she's a good friend, I…" Yang stopped for a second to let out a quivering exhalation. “I'm scared of what I could've done to her.”

Blake smiled painfully to herself, opting not to answer. Yang was acknowledging she may lose it the same way Nora did if anything happened to her. So was she saying their relationship was comparable to Ren and Nora? Everyone already regarded those two as a couple and Yang knew this. So what did that say of Yang and her? Did Yang  _ want _ her to be reading this between the lines, or was Blake getting ahead of herself?  
  
…Would her partner ever be ready to talk about this? Or was she waiting for Blake to finally have enough and force the conversation? …Wasn't Yang supposed to be the upfront, courageous one?

The midnight haired faunus sighed inaudibly and leaned her forehead against her back, in the golden curls. Gunpowder, fire dust and sweat couldn't cover the sweet scent that she found so, so deliciously alluring. Yang gently closed the locker door but didn't move, allowing her to passively lean against her back. With flaring need, Blake wrapped her arms around her waist, fully bringing their bodies together. She couldn't suppress the quiet moan of satisfaction at the contact and it felt like her partner melted into her arms in response.

Yang, leaning back into her heavily, also breathed noticeably deeper. "…Blake..?"

She closed her eyes, tightening her embrace, moving her head from the blonde mane to rest her cheek against her shoulder. "Hmm?" Her breath, she knew, burned her partner's back. Impudently, she let her fingers idly caress down the naked skin of her stomach.

Yang exhaled shakily again, this time for a very different reason than her previous emotional turmoil. It was hard to tell if it was truly the case, but it seemed like as the blonde’s desires were catching fire, the scent of her skin grew sweeter. It was intoxicating. Blake truly couldn’t tell for sure if it was the case, or if maybe it was her imagination or even if it was in fact her own lust that made the scent of the other woman's skin more appetizing. Her partner’s voice, as she spoke again, was thick and strained. "Have you found a spot where we could…? You know."

Of course, Blake had scoured every inch of every building on campus, dawdling with a book for hours here or there, fervently hoping never to see anyone so she could claim the spot as their own. No matter how great of a prospect each of these locations had been, none of them had been remote enough as they all inevitably turned out to already be someone else’s usually private spot she happened to be intruding on. She had been starting to despair when she ultimately remembered a small paradise of a garden she had had to abandon once winter had come. Winter had been long gone now.

“…There’s a garden where I used to go,” Blake started contemplatively, already picturing the two of them surrounded by the serene greenery, leisurely indulging in each other while basking naked in the sun. “It’s very secluded, I’ve always been completely alone when I went to read. So it you meet me there, no one would know.”

Yang's fingers feathered over Blake's hand on her stomach. The touch was so light it was barely there at all and yet it felt electric. “Maybe we could go now? You could show me where it is…?”

The blonde had done her best to suppress her urges over the last days, but it'd been obvious in every look, in her lingering touches and, to Blake, it had been obvious even down to the pheromones in the air. All this pining had obviously taken its toll as Yang's struggle to repress her impulses was now such that it manifested tangibly. Her skin felt burningly hot against Blake's cheek or under her fingertips. Yang's slightly callused hands over hers moved up her forearms, caressing her skin and, although it was almost imperceptible, Blake could nevertheless feel them quiver. If she hadn't known already, for sure with this she would've understood the brawler was doing everything in her power to restrain herself.

The exhilaration of feeling so desired, so  _ wanted _ warmed her body to her core, and Blake exhaled hotly. She too had lusted for her partner; she did again from the very moment she realized her bed had indeed been left imbued with the scent of them. The faunus turned her head slightly and her lips brushed against the back of her shoulder. Blake couldn't help but think… she hadn't seen anyone else in the last two hours. They were completely alone. So why go all the way out to the gardens, risking getting caught in violation of curfew when they got back?

The light touch of her lips became a full kiss on her back, travelling her skin, and goosebumps jolted her partner's body. She could now discern a hint of the smell, the delicious aroma of her arousal, and Blake couldn't tell anymore why they shouldn't. If she was to be honest, the risk factor right now only turned her on more.

Both hands slid slowly down her partner's toned stomach to fall on her belt and, without a second thought, Blake unbuckled it, leisurely sliding the brown leather out of the clasp.

The blonde stopped breathing. "…Blake?" she quietly managed. "What are you doing?"

She let the belt and half-garment Yang called a skirt drop to the ground. With both hands, she caressed her hips, finding the slightly protruding hipbones and then sliding her fingers on her tight, beautifully defined stomach again. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Here?" Yang sounded an amusing mix of thrilled and apprehensive.

"Why not?" Blake countered, both hands moving up her waist, underneath the yellow top, tracing around her strapless bra. “We don’t  _ have _ to go all the way out there when it's this late…”

"What if someone comes in?"

"Everyone's been gone for well over an hour and with the curfew fast approaching, no one's gonna start training at this time," she whispered, taking hold of both breasts and kneading slowly; she pressed her lips to her nape again and Yang gave a weak moan. As Blake's mouth traveled again to her naked shoulder, her fingers found the hardened nipples. The faunus smiled; she'd known her partner was extremely aroused, but she still enjoyed every bit of evidence she found. "Would you rather I stopped?"

Yang seemed to struggle with the decision for a short time, though the outcome was exactly what Blake had expected. "No, please," she quietly answered, her voice a little hoarse. "I'd lose it if you stopped, I want you like mad…"

She pressed closer against her back, massaging her breasts more assertively. "I know," Blake answered with a smile. It was hard  _ not _ to know. Yet, though she answered so confidently, it nevertheless felt surreal to her just how much her partner utterly  _ craved _ her. She still couldn't seem to wrap her head around how it was possible, but  _ somehow _ she could make this amazing woman melt in her arms.

Yang had to bring her arm forward and lean on her locker to steady herself."…Aren't you a little smug?" She feebly protested.

Blake felt herself smiling. She indeed had sounded a tad arrogant, especially given how in awe she still was at the fact that Yang would want her at all. "…I want you just as much," she offered burningly. One of her hands left the brawler’s breasts to snake down her own body, into her white shorts. She glided her fingers along her sex, getting them wet before she pressed her body against her back again, bringing her glistening fingers up for the other woman to witness. “See?”

Unexpectedly to Blake, Yang instantly took them in her mouth. Blake felt her tongue run on her fingers before her partner greedily sucked on them and a low, clearly delighted moan escaped Yang's throat. The way she seemed to be outright relishing in her taste sent a shiver down Blake's spine.

"That good…?" She found herself asking.

Along with a faint nod, Yang moaned again in response, pushing her ass backwards against the faunus's crotch. A surge of desire rose through her and Blake's other hand dropped from her partner's breast to caress her through her tight black shorts. The blonde's hips at once followed her lead as Blake's delicate fingers assertively kneaded between her legs through the fabric.

She didn't know if it was solely out of her own desire or if it was in an effort to ignite her even more that Yang gently bit the index lingering in her mouth, but when she did so… the faunus’s raw  _ need _ to possess her took over. Her hand left the other woman's lips in favour of exploring her stomach and hips and, as she still continued dexterously rubbing with her other hand, she could feel a little dampness seep through her shorts so wet the brawler was getting.

Blake's mouth found her skin again, exploring her shoulder and back and, as she moved towards the middle of her back, Yang hurriedly moved her hair out of the way, bunching it and holding it up out of the way with one hand, pressing the heap of golden locks against the back of her head. Blake took it as a cue to keep doing what she was doing; her lips moved to her spine and she slowly kissed up her nape, then unhurriedly down the center of her back. Blake's kisses dropped lower and lower and she found herself crouching behind her partner, her tongue tracing the skin where it met her tight black shorts. Both her hands outlined her hips slowly, then moved to grab her buttocks, kneading the firm flesh as she marked the skin of her lower back with her mouth.  
  
She incidentally noted to herself that this was the first time she got so up close and personal with her beautifully round butt. With her teeth, she grabbed the hem of the black shorts and pulled slightly on the fabric, pausing a second, then with a hand, unceremoniously pulled them and her underwear down under her rear to expose it. She caressed her ass, leisurely taking her time to appreciate its great shape, not shying away either from kissing her skin again. She decided to leave a love bite on one of her butt cheeks, which prompted Yang to breathe out a sensual mix of a growl and a chuckle. Feeling her lust flare up tenfold made something almost beastly surface from deep within her and she pulled her shorts and underwear down from just under her ass to mid-thigh.

“Spread your legs more and bend over,” she ordered.

There was a short pause but Yang nevertheless did as ordered, effectively giving Blake, in her current position crouched behind her, easy access to her sex. The faunus avidly gripped her partner’s ass from under with both hands and spread her soaked lips with her thumbs, earning herself a strangled gasp.  
  
The air was thick and heavy with her scent, with humidity in the air, and Blake lusted so much she felt light-headed. Approaching closer, she slowly touched the pink flesh with her tongue and, seemingly reflexively, the blonde bent over a little more, offering herself more openly. Her legs were shaking, almost imperceptibly so, but Blake still noticed they were.

Her fingers dug more into her flesh as her grip on her ass increased slightly. Blake touched her lips to her sex instead of her tongue, relishing in the throbbing heat, in the wetness, in how the other woman not only allowed her to do so, but so obviously fervently desired her to.

“If you do that,” Yang's tone was uncharacteristically meek, “my legs are gonna give,” she warned.

Oh how she wanted even  _ more _ to devour her. But, though doing it in the locker room got her stupidly riled up, doing it on the dirty floor put a damper on her impulse. She gave an ardent, opened-mouthed kiss to the burning flesh and earned herself a fevered gasp before she kissed up her spine, standing again. Her hands were back on her stomach for only an instant before one of them found its way between Yang's legs. The blonde vacillated as Blake's fingers slid inside her; she gave a muffled cry and reared her hips.

Her lively and immediate reaction made Blake smile and she kissed her shoulder. "Trying to be quiet?" Her free hand slowly caressed her body.

"Well, yeah…" Yang whined in a harsh whisper. "If someone comes in…" She couldn't finish her sentence as Blake pushed her fingers deeper in her and Yang had another half-repressed moan escape her.

Her partner’s hopeless efforts at being discreet had Blake recall with amusement how they’d previously concluded that in a risky situation exactly like this one, the tables should have been flipped, as Yang could be quite noisy. The faunus was however finding herself very aware of how her partner's unsuccessful attempts at keeping quiet were only turning her on more. Yang scrambled to again hold her hair up and away from her back and Blake, now steadily pumping her fingers, took the cue to return her mouth to her spine. She harmlessly bit at her neck, then moved slowly to kiss and mark her back. The other woman weakly whimpered in pleasure, rocking her hips a little faster than the pace Blake forced onto her, evidently trying to get her to speed up.

She moved her free hand into the yellow tube top again, ran her nails between her breasts, down the middle of her stomach again to her belly button and then gave a harder push of her fingers inside her. The blonde couldn't hold back this time; her voice resonated loudly through the locker room. Blake couldn't comprehend how she possibly could want her even  _ more _ , but after hearing her, she somehow did. Lightheaded with the heat and boiling desire coursing through her veins, intoxicated with her scent, she was salivating, craving her lips, her sex.

"I want to kiss you," Blake murmured against her shoulder.

Yang instantly turned around, her back essentially slamming against the locker as she did so with such urgency, panting. She hurriedly jerked Blake closer to wrap her arms around her, crashing their bodies together. She pressed her mouth to hers so feverishly, harsh breaths burned Blake's face; she indulged in Yang's kiss readily. Blake pushed herself against her partner's body, returning her hand between her legs, managing to resume fingering her at an unrelenting pace. Yang moaned in her mouth again and the faunus's mind reeled. She felt like she was drowning in her, in her scent, in her heat, in the arms desperately clutching her, and, without being able to conceive just what more she could have, Blake  _ somehow _ longed for even more. But what more could she possibly have? After all, her partner's mostly naked body was almost one with hers; she breathed her burning breaths, felt the hammering of her heart against her chest, her embrace essentially consumed her. Blake bit her lower lip gently, feeling contractions around her fingers. Yang's legs then seemed to fail her and Blake found herself supporting a good part of her weight as her partner broke the kiss, moaning her name against her neck, in the dark hair, her body coming undone and quivering.

The midnight haired faunus waited a moment before she removed her hand from between her legs, she enjoyed the heat and pulsations from her sex, but she unquestionably needed both arms to help support her properly. Blake let her unwind, leaning her cheek against the top of her head.

Quickly recovering her breath and steady footing, Yang leaned in again, this time for a gentle, so unbelievably tender kiss. This kind of kiss was one the blonde would inevitably give her after her climax, it was one that let Blake fool herself into believing for a second that her partner felt the same way. Pulling back always tore her heart to shreds, as she abruptly remembered the reality of the situation.

Yang drew back barely an inch. She watched her with a half-lidded, so strikingly amorous gaze that Blake could do nothing but stand very still, arms wrapped around her. Yang gave her another peck on the lips before she spoke. “I needed that.”

Blake kept her very close, hypnotized with the so very rapturous way the other woman looked at her. “I know.”

She smiled that gorgeous, euphoric smile of hers and Blake’s heart pounded painfully in her ribcage. “Of course you did. You always seem to know.”

Mesmerized, overwhelmed with the moment, she was at once  _ painfully _ aware again of how much she loved her. Blake wordlessly leaned in for an invested, lingering kiss in which she poured all the feelings she couldn’t voice.

She never dreamed she would have the luck to even cross paths with someone like her, and  _ somehow _ she was granted the blessing of being able to be relish in her this way. Blake feverishly yet so gently commandeered her lips, wondering if what she felt came through. Wondering if she needed to voice it at all at this point.

When she pulled back, Yang looked like her breath had been taken away. The flow of time seemed to have come to a standstill as they stared at each other for a long moment. Yang had recovered completely by then and she delicately cupped her partner’s cheek. She didn't seem to know what to say.

Blake exhaled gently, broken out of the spell but still a little dazed by it all. "How about we shower?" she suggested.

Her urging the moment along seemed to bring the blonde back to earth. "You're gonna stay that long under the water, kitten?" she wearily shot back, leaning her forehead to her partner's.

Unimpressed, she held her gaze. "Do you  _ really _ want to tease me right now?"

Yang’s expression was a funny mix of blank stare and frozen smile. "…Let's just shower."

Careful about making sure she had regained most of the strength in her legs, Blake then released her partner. They both quickly grabbed their bathing articles from their lockers and hurried to the shower area. Blake started up the water and, as she swiftly removed her bow, black vest and white top, her eyes stayed on the blonde, watching as she got rid of what little clothing she had left. When Yang turned her way, exposing her now fully naked body, the faunus had to stop to take in her beauty again. It had only been twice that she'd had the pleasure to enjoy the sight of her partner's body in its full glory and she was awestruck by how reality lived up to her memory. Yang was as impressively beautiful as she remembered and Blake felt another wave of heat spread through her body, her pressing need making itself known again.

Yang stepped closer; her movement had Blake snap out of it. She nevertheless stayed completely still, motionlessly letting the blonde reach around her to unhook her bra. Yang then gently pushed the straps off her shoulders to let the undergarment fall off, leaving her chest uncovered. The violet gaze drifted down, yet the faunus's golden orbs stayed steady on the other woman's features, witnessing how enthralled she was with the sight of her body. The color of her eyes had darkened and the way she gazed at Blake’s newly exposed skin was engulfing. The blonde then very slowly traced the skin where it met her white shorts, her fingers dipped in them half an inch before she went to agonizingly slowly unzip the zippers aligned with both her thighs almost all the way down. She then let her hands travel around Blake’s hips and pushed the shorts and underwear down her ass to finally let them drop to the ground. Blake stood clad only in her thigh-high dark purple socks, observing her partner's eyes as the pupils grew from dilated to almost black, a looming predatory sensation emanating from her now.

The blonde moved even closer, breath strenuously controlled. Still, as she reached for her cheek, fingers finding their way into the dark hair to comb it, she was incredibly gentle. Her eyes… her  _ eyes  _ however, still fixated on her body, betrayed ferocious passion. "Every time I see you naked," Yang quietly started, "I'm awed. It's like… I  _ think _ I remember how perfect you are, but then it turns out I'm wrong," she murmured. "You inevitably end up taking my breath away."

This made her smile a little. "…I was thinking something along the same lines about you," she admitted as she bent slightly to remove her thigh-high socks. Her eyes travelled on her partner as she did so and she felt drawn to kiss her stomach, steadily moving closer, very slowly going to kneel in front of her. The rising and falling of her stomach against Blake's mouth progressively got deeper as her partner's breathing got heavier.

"Blake…" Yang stopped her. "It's my turn to do what I want to you," she protested, inciting her to move back up and stand again.

The feeling of Yang's naked body against hers as she pulled her into a powerful hug, her smoldering,  _ feverishly  _ hot and magnificently soft skin, and the way she enveloped her made Blake come to a complete stop. She returned her embrace tightly and it felt to her like time stood still for a moment; she forgot she needed air, her brain was so saturated with the sensations and her desire, the only coherent thought she was conscious of was that if time  _ did _ come to a complete stop in this instant, she'd only be grateful. She was pulled out her trance by Yang drawing back just enough to claim her lips. Her kiss was all-consuming again, unlike the tenderness she'd displayed a few minutes ago. Blake still readily responded; she clutched her fiercely and she felt herself just about crushed in her partner's equally needful embrace. She lost herself in her hunger for her lips, her breath seemed to elude her and yet she couldn't seem to stop kissing her. Yang's soft moaning ignited something wild in her and she bit her lip again, a little rougher than she previously had, making her wince.

The vague notion she should apologize floated somewhere at the back of her mind but it was out of reach before she could actually form the intention to do it, as the blonde had shoved her under the hot water, trapping her against the cold tiled wall. Yang gripped her thigh urgently, forcing it up next to her own hip, and Blake followed suit, hopping up to wrap both legs around her waist. She wasn't sure with the hot water running down their bodies if her partner could feel how aroused she was as she rubbed herself to her stomach, but Yang promptly squeezed one of her hands between them to touch her, never breaking from her lips. Such gentle touch when she savagely itched for release was making Blake's body tingle to her fingertips and toes and she tightened her embrace, ran her tongue against her lower lip, tried to ignite more passion, tried to get Yang to fuck her senseless like she had the week prior.

Her need didn't go unnoticed; Blake felt fingers slide inside her as she was squeezed harder between Yang's body and the shower wall. The moan caught in her throat made her realize she'd been purring, though she didn't know since when. She rocked her hips against her hand and she was so wet, so ready, Yang didn't need to work her at all to slip in the third finger she liked to add. Blake groaned, gasping, the blonde's breathing burned her face again, harsh with both the effort and the passion, and Blake somehow felt even more drawn into her, somehow wanted to give more of herself, somehow had no fear of surrendering her whole being to forget everything but her pleasure and her love. Her desire incinerated any and all of her lucid thoughts. She hung onto her, rolling her hips like she was possessed, gripping fistfuls of wet golden hair as she devoured her lips with an abandon she rarely allowed herself. Her pounding heart was ready to burst with how much love she felt, and she felt choked, her breath was running out, maybe because of the fingers pushing into her or maybe the almost suffocating way she felt engulfed in her. Ultimately, Blake had to release her lips, she panted so hard the hot and humid air of the shower that her lungs burned. Yang drew back just enough to lock gazes, but the faunus was so dizzy with lust, with the heat, she couldn't focus at all. Blake shut her eyes tightly and felt her cheek against hers, then her lips on her neck and the fingers still vigorously sliding in and out of her made her moan feverishly.

"Talk to me, Blake," Yang whispered in her ear, her voice almost lost in the resonating drumming of the water droplets hitting the tiles and sound of the shower running. "Say my name," she pleaded, with strange longing in her so quiet voice.

The fingers curled inside her and Blake bucked her hips against her partner's hand and stomach. With how earnest Yang sounded as she asked, she was tempted to satisfy her request, though… parting her lips, only a pleasured huff escaped her. Blake couldn't bring herself to say anything. She knew Yang  _ loved _ hearing her, and she understood why… after all, when it was  _ Yang _ who breathed her name in fits of passion, she would absolutely revel in the sound of it. Blake was however exceedingly reluctant to let go, afraid that saying anything at all whilst drowning in Yang's arms, even just her name, would lead her to inadvertently confess. She was terrified that her disoriented mind muddled by pleasure would forget, would betray her levelheaded self and she would find herself pronouncing those three words.

She shook her head no and clutched her closer. Her lips found her neck and her teeth grazed the skin; she could feel the heavy and fast pulse pounding against her tongue and the faunus couldn't suppress the overwhelmingly powerful instinct to bite down. Yang gasped and, holding her up into her arms the way she was, her fingers gripping her ass dug deeper in her flesh. She pushed Blake even harder against the tiled wall of the shower.  
  
Blake's hands similarly clutched her so hard she knew that had her nails not been trimmed, she would have drawn blood on her partner's back. Her body was quickly tensing up and she felt herself trembling, unthinkingly biting her neck harder. Yang moaned in what seemed to be a mix of pain and pleasure and this was Blake's tipping point. The rush of the pure, unaltered ecstasy that burst through her made her head spin, her purring grew loud enough to resonate in the shower, she was shaking. At the back of her mind, she was gripped with the elusive notion that she may have been biting her too hard at this point for her aura to heal her instantly, but she couldn't help herself and didn't release her right away; not until the remaining tension left her body and she relaxed at once.

Yang cradled her in her arms, hugging her so lovingly, so soothingly and Blake exhaled in comfort. She wanted to sleep. She absolutely loved the intimacy this brought them and the vulnerability she allowed herself to feel as the woman she loved tenderly held her, gently caressing her head, scratching around her ears. She pressed her face to Yang's neck to snuggle her in answer, but was stirred again as she tasted blood against her lips. Blake wondered if the blonde's skin could naturally get so hot, if it was because of the addition of hot water, or if maybe her semblance had kicked back in because of the pain

The faunus drew back to see her handiwork, guilt knotting her stomach.

"…Sorry," she whispered before she backed enough to meet her gaze. "I hurt you…"

"It didn't hurt," Yang promptly answered. With this, she carefully let her down so she could stand.

Her eyes swiftly ran over her features. "Liar," Blake accused, reaching out to her with one hand. "Your hair." The golden curls as they flowed between her fingers gave off a barely noticeable glow.

Having apparently not anticipated that it would be enough for her semblance to kick in and betray her, Yang groaned. "Fine," she gave, "it hurt a bit." As if she wanted to brush it off and move on, she reached for Blake's shampoo and spurted some in her hands. "I can take pain," she argued, already massaging the product into the dark locks of hair.

"I know you  _ can _ ," Blake scoffed in response, letting herself get pampered. "The way you withstood that impact earlier is a prime example of that," she wryly reminded her, turning her back to her in an attempt to facilitate the shampooing.

"There you go." Yang had a small grin and gave a harmless slap on the faunus' butt. "A little biting is nothing."

Pursing her lips, she glanced back to give her a disapproving look. Of course, it'd been meant toward her carelessness regarding her potentially getting hurt, not towards the butt slap. That, Yang could do as much as she wanted, Blake hoped her partner knew that much.  
  
"Just because you suffered worse doesn't mean I should be careless," she argued. Blake felt her partner carefully foaming the shampoo on her cat ears' fur and her features softened again. "I didn't mean to hurt you, I just…have trouble keeping in control when it comes to you."

"You don't have to control yourself," Yang maintained, popping the shower head off its clasp and rinsing the black hair.

"No I do." She turned her back to her to allow the other woman to finish rinsing the shampoo out. She did so, but then there was a pause in which Yang stayed decidedly still and it prompted Blake to glance at her again. Her eyes, not unlike immaculate violet gemstones, curiously interrogated her. The glow of her hair was almost completely faded. Blake still thought she looked surreally divine and it only heightened her impression of being a filthy, sinister beast, unworthy of her. "…There is something… ferocious inside me, Yang. Something that may be more animal than human. It comes out when you… bring me to that point."

A grin split her features. "You mean your wild side?" she laughed, pulling her into a hug. "By all means,  _ don't  _ control yourself."

Still bothered by the bloodied bruise she left on her, Blake couldn't help being uncomfortable. No, uncomfortable was too light of a word, it was that sort of abject sentiment of feeling undeserving of being doted on or cuddled, of polluting the purity of the divine being gracing her with her light. She nevertheless let herself be embraced, though with distance enough to keep eye contact. "…Even if I end up hurting you like I just did?"

The blonde steadily held her stare. "I can take pain," she repeated.

And this brought a new suspicion to the surface. She squinted at her. "….Are you  _ encouraging _ me to hurt you, Xiao Long?"

Yang shrugged, releasing her to start the process of washing her own hair. The amount of shampoo she put in her hair would've been ridiculous for anyone else, but seemed about right for her incredible mane. "Maybe just a bit."  
  
She knew some scientists speculated that the way one’s semblance manifested was a reflection of what was inside of them and Blake found herself asking: “…Do you enjoy it?”  
  
It felt like a puzzle of which’s existence she had been unaware of had fallen into place right as it came into view. Getting something positive out of experiencing pain was part of Yang's semblance simply because… she actually  _ did  _ get a kick out of it.

"Maybe a little," she nonchalantly reiterated, combing the product through her golden locks with her fingers.

"Maybe?" Blake repeated.

Yang shrugged again. She started washing out the shampoo.

Had Blake stumbled onto something that actually embarrassed her cocky partner? It was quite novel to see her reluctant to own up a penchant she exhibited. “I just want to know,” the faunus gently said. “If you do like it, it's completely fine.”

She glanced her way.

“Yang, I'm not gonna think any differently of you if you do, it's fine.”

With a sigh, the blonde took the time to finish rinsing her hair thoroughly and picked up her conditioner before offering an answer.  “Not  _ a lot  _ of pain,” she eventually acknowledged, “but that much, like just now, it… it got me hot again.”

Golden eyes swiped down the other woman's silhouette. The running water washed away what would’ve tipped Blake off even with her eyes closed, but looking on… her nipples indeed were tellingly hard and her pupils’ size darkened her gaze again.  “It did, didn’t it,” she mused. Her hand found her waist and glided a few inches down to her hip. “I’d be happy indulging anything you enjoy,” she started, “but I’d feel better if we went with something that doesn’t leave such ugly bruises on you. This looks appalling, I can’t help feeling guilty.”  
  
“You didn’t do it on purpose,” Yang reminded her.    
  
“I’ll remember to restrain myself next time,” the dark haired faunus asserted.

Without answering, the brawler smeared the conditioner in her hair, massaging it in; Blake assumed this was the end of the conversation and also gave her dark locks a second wash with the same product. However, after the golden mane was rinsed for the second time, Yang turned to her again.  
  
"I'm not fragile. I don’t want you to try and suppress whatever’s inside you," she started up again, clearly not satisfied with how the conversation had been wrapped up.   
  
“I know you’re not. It’s just--”  
  
"I want  _ all _ of you," Yang cut in and Blake froze, holding her breath.  
  
The look she must have given her seemed to have the brawler rethink her choice of words; Yang's gaze embarrassedly fell to the ground.  
  
"W-What I mean is… You’re telling me you have that ferociousness inside of you like you think I haven’t felt it, but Blake, it’s not the first time it’s slipped out.” She raised her eyes, tentatively meeting hers again. “I know about it already. I  _ know  _ you’re not as stoic as you’d like other people to think. I know how fierce and passionate you are and it was no surprise when you first showed me that feistiness in bed too. I like it,” Yang explained. “I don't want you to hold back any of it. Give me everything you have," she earnestly insisted. "I want you to be free to be as you really are with me."

She unwound somewhat from hearing her explanation. Still, the roller coaster of emotions whenever they would approach this matter was very trying on Blake and she didn't know how much more she'd be able to take. Opting not to answer, she turned away to slowly soap up her body. The blonde wrapped her arms around her, pressing against her back, Blake paused what she was doing. Her partner's lust was certainly far from quenched, yet Blake was too shaken from the way it had felt like her heart had been flung up and down.  
  
“You want that to happen again? Me tearing into you like that?” she sullenly questioned.

"…I want any trace you can leave of yourself," Yang's voice was almost lost through the platter of the running water on the tiles. She took the time to suck on her neck, leaving a small, purple bruise before she gently continued, whispering in her ear. "I…just love looking down at myself and seeing you've been there. Evidence of these moments I have with you," she explained, pulling her a little closer. "Love bites are healed by our aura really quick, but this bite… that'll stay a bit. It's a welcomed reminder."

She knew Yang meant no harm with confessing this, yet she suspected her partner never truly considered the impact the words she chose could have…  _ or _ what was essentially implied with what she'd proclaim. Blake untangled herself from her arms a little too abruptly for it to go unnoticed and her eyes found the bite mark on her partner's neck.  
  
They stared at each other for a second, surprise tinting her partner’s gorgeous features, but as Blake did nothing but ambiguously frown up at her, Yang evidently seemed to deduce they were not going to continue their previous activities. She turned to get soap and Blake's gaze drifted to the painless bruises she'd left on the blonde’s back and ass, the ones that, unlike the one on her neck that would need to be concealed by her orange scarf in the following days, would heal themselves in the following hour. "…You like it when I mark you?"

Yang was now scrubbing her body clean. "Shouldn't I?"

Blake knew it was petty, but this naïve answer made anger flare in the pit of her stomach. Yang's behavior, and often even her words, kept pointing towards there being underlying feelings. Yet she would dodge the matter as soon as the dialogue seemed to bring them to a point at which they might get addressed. And now… the omnipresent weight of their unspoken agreement -that they weren't broaching this topic- felt suffocating and unfair to her.  
  
"No, Yang, I don't think you should." Her voice sounded harsher than she had intended it to and Yang turned to her in surprise. Blake willed herself to sound more detached this time. "I will remind you people identify their property and this… isn't very different."

Understanding flashed in Yang's eyes, followed by what the faunus could only interpret as regret. Was it regret? And if it was, regret at her own words, maybe? Or at something else?

"…Anyone looking at those bruises would conclude you belong to someone," Blake nevertheless added before she turned off the water.

The look in her clear, beautiful, amethyst eyes was heartbreaking, and Blake knew the question on her partner's lips, the one Yang was not asking her right now.  _ Of course I want you to belong to me.  _ The words ached to be screamed, yet Blake walked out the shower in silence and grabbed her towel. She had resolved not to voice that answer until her partner was ready to ask the question, until Yang was ready to address the feelings she indisputably was aware Blake was straining to shackle. For a few seconds, the blonde watched as her partner dried herself off and started to gather her clothing, she then followed out and dried herself too without adding a word.  
  
Blake sighed gently and picked up the short black shorts and semblance of a skirt that had been discarded hurriedly a little earlier. "What do you call this thing anyways?"   
  


* * *

  
On the first Saturday of the month, Ruby and Yang usually made the trip to Patch to see their father; that Saturday was no exception. Though she would rather have spent the day with her blonde partner than without her, Blake figured she could use the opportunity to zip through that trilogy she'd bought and never got around to read. She went about her morning routine quietly and, after having gotten breakfast, trotted back to her room to find her remaining teammate studying. Opting not to disturb her, the faunus pawed to her bed and picked up volume one to start on what promised to be an epic tale.

It however did seem she had disturbed her, because Weiss had straightened up in her chair. She also fidgeted admittedly uncharacteristically.

Blake's eyes drifted from her book to her teammate at her desk. The snow-haired young lady gave off such a tense vibe, she couldn't concentrate on reading. Finding the beginning of the line on her page again, her eyes followed the words without registering their meaning. She found herself looking up at her friend again, this time catching the pale blue orbs fixed onto her. Weiss quickly turned her back to her again, seemingly resuming her studies, and Blake's own gaze was trying to decipher the same single line in her book again and, no matter how many times she read the words, they didn't make sense at all so distracted she was.

Annoyed with her lack of focus, she found herself glancing towards the source of her distraction, only to discover Weiss was staring at her  _ again _ .

"Is there a problem?" Blake attempted. Ignoring her friend's behavior was downright impossible, might as well deal with it.

Weiss turned around to sit sideways in her chair in a way she didn't have to crook her neck to look at her. Blake deduced that if whatever this was required for her to get into a position comfortable for dialogue, this was going to be a substantial conversation.Her teammate looked oddly discomfited and it seemed to the dark haired faunus like she was assessing something; maybe the situation, maybe her own upcoming words.

Quickly, Weiss's features settled into a resolute expression. "…Blake, I'm going to ask something that may seem odd. And I really want to apologize if I somehow got the wrong idea, and please, please don't be offended if I  _ did _ get the wrong idea."

She raised her eyebrows, surprised with her friend's unusual awkwardness. "What is it, Weiss?"

The snow-haired lady cleared her throat, apparently trying to swallow down some nervousness. It still took a moment for her to speak. "…Do you— …well. Do you— …I'm sorry if I'm completely mistaken, I don't mean to infer anything. Or be rude. But…"

"What?" Blake pressed, eager to cut the chase. Weiss was starting to worry her with this extensive preface.

Still hesitant, she examined her for another seemingly interminable moment before she gave a light sigh, apparently deciding to simply go for it. "…You… _ like _ Yang, don't you?"  
  
Blake's expression went blank. She had been mindful of the likelihood that Weiss had some budding suspicions, but she had not anticipated being confronted anytime soon, or  _ at all _ .  
  
Her empty stare seemed to prompt Weiss into specifying her notion. "…And I do mean in a non-platonic way. You're… attracted to her, aren't you?"

She opened her mouth, about to go into full denial mode, but immediately closed it again. No matter what phrasing Weiss had decided on to share her assumption, this… hadn't been a question. This was, in fact, a statement. Weiss had seen through her and Blake knew that if her friend was certain enough to address her with this, none of the brittle excuses she would come up with would be able to convince her otherwise. Not to mention, she knew that lying to her would only amount in upsetting the snow haired heiress because after all, Weiss had made Blake promise to come to them if something ever troubled her again. A lie so blatant would only amount to having Weiss call her out on a breach of trust. Resigned golden eyes drifted to the forgotten book in her hands. She closed it softly. "…Have I been so obvious?"

Weiss looked visibly relieved that this wasn't going to turn into an argument. "…Obvious enough if one knows to look for it," she graciously offered.

"If one knows to look for it," Blake repeated. It wasn't very hard to figure out. She gave a deep sigh. "…And you knew to look for it because you heard me purring."

She nodded once. "...that, paired with the way you were cuddling up to her then, yes," Weiss paused for a short moment, seemingly reviewing the events of that morning in her head. "It was disconcerting given how distant you typically show yourself. And from there, as I watched you, it was so plain to see I wondered how I hadn't caught on before."  
  
Blake silently stared back at her. It was a long pause before she said anything. "…Okay," she eventually acknowledged, still very unsure why her teammate decided to broach the subject.

"Right." Weiss gave a curt sigh, apparently regrouping herself. "…The reason I'm…I deemed I should discuss this with you," she started, proceeding to move on. "Not only could it be precarious for the team… but I'm also concerned for you," she carefully explained. "How do you intend on dealing with this?"

Her grip on her book had tightened to the point she now noticed her fingernails had turned white. Blake set it aside on her bedside table. "Do I have to deal with it?"

The other young woman looked displeased again. "It's going to wear you down if you don't," she shot back. Then her expression relaxed a little and she looked to be more hesitant. "…Unless you think it's not worth it because it'll pass? Do you think this is just momentary infatuation?"

Blake felt her jaw tighten. If only this was a harmless, shallow crush.  _ If only _ it had been curiosity, experimentation, a phase, whatever they liked calling it. "No." Her voice sounded feeble, she was distressed to realize and Blake had to pause and swallow down some of her uneasiness. " _ This _ ..." she started again, "this, it doesn't qualify as mere infatuation," she confessed in a whisper. "…It's  _ very _ far from a simple crush, it's so monumental that I'm honestly a little at loss."

Weiss's expression softened even more and she finally stood from being sat at her desk to calmly walk up to her. "How long have you been feeling this way?"

The faunus gave a disheartened shrug. "I don't really know myself. I used to try and not think about it because I thought it was pointless but…" What was she supposed to say now? "But now it's…" she tried again, though she had to pause once more, totally unsure how to continue from there. After all, the reason she faced her feelings was because Yang left her no choice but to when she'd met her with unexpected desires. If she explained this, would it be too crude? Unwarranted information? Would her friend be revolted?

"It has caught up to you?" the heiress presumed, now sitting across her teammate on her own bed, adjacent from her.

Before she could elect whether or not it may be better to leave things up in the air, keep it vague, Blake found herself shaking her head to rectify her supposition. "I wouldn't say it like that," she carefully answered. Seeing the expectant look on her friend's features, once more without really thinking about whether or not she should elaborate, she carried on with her explanations. "I probably would have kept ignoring it indefinitely, but… it's just…the…circumstances changed. And I had nowhere to hide from myself."

"What happened?"

Blake seemed to suddenly become aware of where answering Weiss's questions brought them and of how the only thing that could come next was confessing to what happened. She silently stared at her, realizing in surprise that everything in her urged her to come clean. Blake realized she  _ wanted _ to tell someone; she needed this suffocating secret off her chest, she needed to alleviate its weight. And though she couldn't help the omnipresent fear of what may result from such a confession, she found it very encouraging how Weiss hadn't been alarmed at all about the way she felt for her partner. Blake decided that it may not be too much of a gamble to let her know.

"If you want to know the truth…" She started, unsure how she should phrase her revelation, "…With Yang…" Blake nervously took a deep breath. "…Somehow, she… ... Her flirting wasn't… all that insignificant,” she explained, hoping Weiss would catch onto where this was heading.

“She said something that made you believe it's not?” Weiss carefully asked. It was a warranted question since Yang did have a tendency to flirt as banter.

“More like, she did something,” Blake tried.

Her expression was even more inquisitive. “Okay…?”

Blake held her breath. There was no going around it, she had to say it. “We did it. Yang and I. We did it," she ended up stating.  
  
Weiss stared at her vacantly for a few seconds. She then frowned. "… …Pardon?" She had a short, tense laugh. "I think I misunderstood."

"You didn't," Blake countered with as much composure as she could muster.

She shook her head, and eyes closed, she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I think I did. Because seriously, I don't think you  _ actually _ meant to say what I heard." Her pale blue eyes snapped back up to meet her friend's, her cheeks now a little pink. "Blake. It sounded like you said…that …" Weiss didn't seem to be able to articulate the next words. She touched her two indexes together.

The faunus was starting to feel more than a little self-conscious, but she nevertheless gave a single, very deliberate nod of her head. "…It's what I meant to say," she carefully confirmed. Maybe this hadn't been a good idea. Maybe she shouldn't have opened up.

There was another pause in which Weiss seemed to start to accept what had just been said. Her face was rapidly turning as red as Ruby's cape. "…. … No,  _ really _ , you two….? ….You…?"

"… _ Yes _ , Weiss, do I have to spell it out?" she unnervingly shot back, more than a little anxious.

Her eyes were now incredibly wide. "…Wow. Okay," Weiss carefully said in a breath. Her gaze drifted to the ground. " _ Wow _ …." she repeated, apparently still in disbelief. "That's… well…  _ leagues  _ ahead of what I expected to hear."

She waited a moment in silence, wishing her friend would say more, anything that would clue her in as to whether or not she was taking it well. Blake felt anxiety constrict her stomach and throat; she had to will herself to say something before the overpowering urge to flee got the better of her. "…Does that change your opinion of us…?"

Weiss instantly looked back up at her. "No! No, of course not," she said right away, in an effort to reassure her. "It’s natural to have those urges, and you have feelings for her, of course you'd… you'd want… you'd..." As she spoke, her icy blue orbs slid from the faunus's shape, down to the bed she was sitting on. " _ Of course _ you'd want to… do…" she trailed off, now crossing her arms.

As she watched her in her reflection process, Blake quickly felt a different type of dread overtake her. " _ Please _ tell me you're not picturing it."

"I'm not!" Weiss balked, and her face reddened again. "…I  _ wasn't _ !" she then exclaimed even louder, her voice much higher pitched. The heiress looked discomfited and more than a little flustered. She shut her eyes and joined both hands in her lap, taking a deep breath. "Sorry, I have to process this," she eventually apologized, finally regrouping herself a little. Only then did she look to Blake again. "Sorry. So Yang is also…? I mean… then, are you two… an item?"

"No," Blake immediately said. "No, we're not. If that had been the case, we would've definitely told Ruby and you," she added, and Weiss nodded in approval. The midnight haired woman gave her a little smile, though it swiftly faded from her features as she opened her mouth again.  
  
"…I don't know if Yang will ever want anything more than…this. Hence, I asked her to stay discreet. After all, well… how would we have been expected to go about with this? Just offhandedly let you two know we—" She stopped herself and had to breathe; discussing this was unnervingly embarrassing. Moreover, she'd never had to actually describe,  _ verbalize _ , what she and Yang were doing. "I just…I don't know, Weiss… were we supposed to actually just come out with it and tell you we had…. casual sex…?" She almost cringed saying it. Blake didn't want to call it that. It wasn't casual sex to her and she thought it may have sounded crude to someone refined as Weiss. But there was no going around it right now. "Just throwing  _ that _ at you without context… I felt it would've been... kind of too much info? I mean, Yang and I are…technically still just friends, and what we did, it… it didn't change how we behaved when with you two… We simply felt it wasn't something Ruby and you needed to know."

The understanding on her friend's features relieved Blake immensely. "…I see your point." Weiss crossed her legs and leaned forward slightly, observing her for a few seconds before giving a sigh. "…Honesty, I don't know where to go from here," she pursed her lips. "And here I was astounded with even just the  _ suspicion _ that you may have feelings for her. I thought you’d deny it. And I sure didn't expect something like this. I mean… to start with, I don't know anyone who's… …." She trailed off, seemingly hesitant with what wording to settle on.

"…Gay?" the faunus offered, in an attempt to save her the struggle. She saw some air of guilty discomfort cross her features for a second and Blake paused. She in truth had been thinking about this a lot ever since that night. Yang had asked her if she'd always known she had some interest in both sexes and she found herself now questioning if she truly did have interest in  _ both _ . "I don't know about Yang, but for myself… I…" she paused. "I'm still unsure about… outside of her, what it is exactly I'm attracted to, really," she admitted. "I mean…all this, it's very new to me. Love, relationships, even friendship, all that seemed irrelevant when I was in the White Fang. I was… I was a soldier. I lived for the White Fang. I never had time to dwell on anything but our mission…on what I used to think was my duty," she explained. She shifted positions in what she realized was probably embarrassment. "The people who fought alongside me in the White Fang… we were united by a perceived common enemy, not much else. So when I entered Beacon Academy, I didn't anticipate making any sort of real connections. I never had many with my peers. You all are… a pleasant surprise."

Weiss smiled a genuine smile. "To be honest, I feel the same about the three of you," she agreed, and as Blake smiled back, it looked like this acknowledgment of what their teammates brought them embarrassed Weiss. She cleared her throat, clearly she didn't want to dwell on this. "So… dating was never one of your concerns?"

This snapped her back to the conversation at hand. "It was so far from being on my mind, I mean, just having the team was already overwhelming, hence…  _ romance _ … I wasn't ready to think about it yet. I had no interest," Blake explained.

"…Given where you're standing now… I'd argue you  _ did _ have some interest," Weiss amusedly shot back.

She felt herself blush. "...I genuinely didn't think I did!" she argued. "And because of that, I honestly never gave… …sexuality in general a thought… and…I… had no reason to believe I may not be like the majority of people… but… … then…" Blake sighed a kind of disbelieving chuckle. " _ Then _ , I realized I was constantly watching her. And…  _ how _ I was looking at her. And the way I felt when I did."

"That's kind of adorable, actually."

Again, she felt her cheeks redden. "Not really," Blake breathed, opting not to rectify that when she’d mentioned the way she felt, it had not been meant to describe  _ only _ romantic feelings.

"No,  _ really _ ," Weiss stressed, still grinning. She let her friend steep in her embarrassment for what Blake deemed was an unfairly prolonged moment before she had the grace to move on. "Does that mean that she's the first person to ever catch your eye?"

The faunus felt herself frown. Could she really say that Yang caught her eye? After all, when they first met… she hadn't looked twice and had  _ really _ tried  _ hard _ to blow her off, as she and Ruby had interrupted her reading. "Hmm. I don't think it's the right way to put it, she didn't catch my eye per se," Blake found herself saying. "I mean, I  _ do _ think she's ridiculously attractive," she clarified, "but that's… that's not why she stood out to me. Lots of people are objectively attractive, but Yang, however…"

Blake stopped. What was so different about Yang? As the question presented itself in her mind, she didn't even need to think about her answer. "…Yang, as I got to know her, I quickly… … to me, she  _ shines. _ And it's only truer the more I know her. She… she's unguarded and genuinely compassionate and so, so caring. She's so  _ warm _ ." It was the first time she was able to communicate openly her feelings and Blake felt her heart swell with the love she felt for her partner. Her eyes found her friend's again, the snow haired lady stared back with inquisitive interest and Blake found herself continuing.

"I'd… in my life, I'd experienced such hate and rejection, I…. I shut down. I hid behind walls I didn't think anyone could even  _ start _ to breach," she explained. "I had never thought I could open up to anyone again. And her… just so naturally… she…" Blake's eyes had drifted to the floor. "The way she's inexorably positive and outgoing, and… always trying to make the best of things… and her laugh, her laugh, Weiss, it makes me  _ want _ to be happy. For the first time in my life, I actually look forward to what the future may bring. I had never met someone who made me feel so optimistic. Or…  _ safe _ . Safe with them and safe with myself. I had never met someone who made me want to let my guard down, look up, reach out for them. And Yang... Yang, with her beautiful,  _ passionate _ fire… she…" Blake breathed shakily. "She tore me out of a darkness I had come to believe I would forever be engulfed in," she finished with a quiet sigh, feeling herself smile nonetheless. Her eyes were on Weiss's again, and her sheepish smile widened in spite of herself. "….Everything is brighter now."

There was a very long pause before she answered at all. "…Wow," Weiss finally managed in a quiet voice, awed. "You're right. Infatuation doesn't cover it. You're really,  _ really _ in love with her," she bluntly confirmed. Blake felt her face redden yet again. "Here I was looking on, thinking you might have a shallow crush… I never expected you to be so serious about her," she commented.

Blake felt self-conscious again. "…I didn't intend on any of this to happen," she offered, feeling the need to apologize. She knew what the team meant to Weiss, and she knew how her feelings could end up tearing everything apart. "I…. like I told you, I… me neither, I never had what I have with you three. You're all so important to me, and I… if anything happened, I can't… I would never forgive myself if everything fell apart because of me, I'm…. sorry, I…"

"Stop it, stop," Weiss instantly shot, holding her hand out as a sign for Blake to fall silent. "…The way you talk about her is  _ beautiful _ . And nothing you should be sorry for, okay?" The icy blue orbs held her stare as she said this, as if she wanted to stress her point. "Now. Yes, I was worried about what your feelings may mean when it came to us four being able to continue working as a team, but… come on Blake, I'm not heartless."

"…Sorry, I just…"

"Stop apologizing," Weiss unnervedly cut in, causing Blake to instantly crumple. Silence filled the room again and the snow haired lady sighed. She decidedly didn't seem to have wanted to shut her down the way she did; Weiss attempted to pursue the conversation. "…How did it happen?"

"What?" Blake confusedly blinked a few times.

"Yang and you," she specified. There was a short pause, in which she looked quite unsure of herself, before she opened her mouth again. "You don't have to explain if you feel it's too personal; I simply can't help but wonder, since you're not in a relationship… this isn't something that just  _ happens _ , is it? How did you end up…getting to that point?"

It was beyond her power to stop the memories from flooding her; Yang's warmth against her back, her hands delicately caressing her breasts, her nervous breath shivering against the back of her shoulder. She had to focus to push back the images and phantom sensations. "…It's odd, but it really did simply happen. Completely out of nowhere," she answered. It truly had been a tremendous shock to realize her blonde partner actually desired her. "…We shared a bed on a mission and before I knew it we were…. ….well, she was…" Blake exhaled shakily, struggling not to replay the events in her head, yet trying to rack her brain for any clue allowing her to understand how Yang had even taken that first step to start with. "I can't imagine what possessed her, she… showed curiosity. And suddenly it was desire… and I don't know where she gets that sort of audacity, she just went for it," she explained vaguely. Her body felt warmer even as she tried to not think about it in details; Blake couldn't hold her friend's gaze. "And god, how I had wanted her…" she confessed. "Of course I encouraged her. Of course I reciprocated."

Weiss hummed pensively. "Well…if she's the one who came onto you… doesn't it mean she's interested in more…?"

"Does it really?" Blake shot back. "After all, sex and love aren't mutually exclusive," she argued. Though Yang  _ did _ seem to be awfully attached to her, she more often than not would tiptoe around discussing what it was they were doing and Blake didn't dare get her hopes up. "Not knowing is killing me," she admitted in a quiet voice.

"…When was this?"

"The escort mission last month."

There was sudden understanding on her features as she suddenly made sense of something that had apparently been bothering her. "…That's…why. That's when she started calling you 'kitten'," she blurted in bewilderment. "It wasn't out of the blue,  _ that _ was why."

Blake felt herself redden a little. "…Right, you'd noticed that."

"Who didn't?" Weiss retorted, making her friend wince. After a short silence, she resumed. "So it's been a month? …And you… don't know still? You haven't gotten around to talk about it at all?"

The faunus shook her head dejectedly. "No, we talked… I mean, not our first time, at that point we were both confused but-"

"Hold on!" Weiss cut in, scandalized. " _ First  _ time?" She repeated. "Implying not just one time?"

"….A couple of times," Blake quietly offered.

"A couple of times during the mission or…?"

"…No, not just…" she trailed off. She'd phrased her confession vaguely enough to let her friend think it has been a solitary episode, but she’d just inadvertently betrayed herself. Resigned, she glanced embarrassedly at her teammate. "Spread out over the last weeks."

Blake watched as her expression went from stunned to confused, and then to borderline offended. "You two have been having sex for the last  _ month _ ?" Weiss sounded almost distressed. " _ When _ ?"

"…Not while you and Ruby were sleeping," she conservatively offered, thinking that her concern over this was probably the reason her friend was so agitated. "We hadn't done it that morning you saw her in my bed," she then added, opting not to let her know this was only thanks to Yang's uneasiness with her sibling's presence. "It's only been when… sometimes, when we’ve had a couple of hours alone."

Weiss looked very relieved. "…Okay."

Clearing her throat, Blake resolved to move on from this embarrassing interlude and go back as quickly as possible to the matter that had previously been at hand. "…I just meant to say… that yes, although vaguely, we  _ have _ talked. My issue is that we haven't progressed enough for me to figure out what it's supposed to be," she summarized. Her gaze drifted to her hands to let her notice she had been clutching her uniform skirt in tense fists. Staring at them for a second, trying to pinpoint why she felt so thin-skinned, she came aware that the agony and irritation she constantly tried to stifle when with Yang was now surfacing.

"…It hurts but… she's… I understand she's lost. I've been there. And I've had almost a year to come to terms with how I felt about her, I can't expect her to breeze through this in three or four weeks. Plus, she's been honest about…how she knows we're in a delicate situation…" she rationalized, though the more she spoke, the more sensitive she felt. "And to be fair, she  _ did _ try to talk it out when we were still out on that mission but she… seemed so confused, and lost, and… I told her it was okay if she didn't say anything," she explained, inhaling deeply in an attempt to calm down. "The thing is, since then… I thought she'd have figured it out at least a little… but it doesn't seem like it. She still doesn't seem to understand exactly what she wants from me. And now she's been purposely avoiding the topic, but still she keeps… she keeps looking at me this way and… I can't say no, I don't  _ want _ to say no… it's just… a mess."

While Weiss apparently did her best to keep a neutral expression, her tone when she spoke was clearly displeased. "…It’s so unfair to you. Her behavior is completely unreasonable," she asserted. "I know you want to be understanding, but Blake, you still have to respect  _ your own _ feelings. What do  _ you _ want?"

"What do I want?" Blake bitterly repeated; she knew what she wanted had already been made explicitly clear. Moreover, with every word, she struggled more and more with feelings of frustration, maybe even resentment. "I want her to be making love to me, not using me for sex."

Weiss seemed to physically recoil from her words. Though she'd seemed angry with Yang a second ago, she visibly didn't think this was warranted. "…Don't say that…" she breathed with a twinge of sadness. Recovering, her voice was louder this time, more convinced. "Don't say it like that! She  _ does _ care for you and you know that! Yang wouldn't  _ use _ you, that’s not like her at all! She's not-"

"I know!" Blake cut in. "Don't even-..." she halted, not wanting to take out her anger on her teammate. This anger was quickly blurring itself with profound distress anyways and she inhaled deeply, shakily pressing her hands over her face. Her throat was painfully constricted and it was hard to push words through. "I'm s-sorry...I know you're just... it's just..." And she realized she was tearing up, which only served to destabilize her more. "…I'm being stupid…"

There was a shift and, even if Blake still held her hands over her face, she understood Weiss moved from her bed to sit next to her instead. "It's not stupid, Blake, don't say that. Getting our feelings out there is always difficult."

"…I-I…know. I'm sorry," she sniffed, trying her best to get a hold of herself. "…I didn't mean to say-...I know she's not using me… I didn't mean it. I'm just frustrated," she sobbed in spite of her best efforts. An arm came around her shoulders and Blake bowed her head, leaning into her almost imperceptibly. A couple of months ago, she would could never have anticipated, not in a million years, that Weiss  _ Schnee _ , heir to the Schnee dust company, would ever be comforting her. But there they were and she was so incredibly thankful for her presence.  
  
"I…just…I love her so much, I want to come out with it, I… want to be with her, and yet I can't… pressure her into anything," she blurted a little incoherently, the words coming out seemed to be alleviating the weight on her heart. "I'm so scared of losing her… and I…" Blake had to stop herself to sniff again, clumsily trying to wipe her eyes and nose. "…Then I remind myself…I shouldn't anyways, I shouldn't  _ ever _ ask her to be with me… and it's… it's j-just so unfair…" She sobbed again, hiding her face awkwardly with her hands again.

Slowly, comfortingly rubbing her back, Weiss waited a moment before asking, "Why not?"

Blake scoffed and separated enough to look at her, paying no attention to the tears rolling down her cheeks. "Weiss, I'm a _faunus_ , may I remind you?"  
  
As soon as the argument passed her lips, she felt her friend tense up and expression stiffened. It couldn’t be clearer that Weiss understood where this was heading but Blake nevertheless continued.  
  
"You _know_ the world doesn't take kindly to one of us with a human. You used to be like them, to think like that, you _know_ how some people can be," she argued and Weiss's arm around her was almost rigid, her hand stiffly clenched her shoulder. Blake searched her features, but the pale blue orbs would not meet her eyes; the faunus gave a shaky sigh. "I know Yang doesn’t care about that. It’s been very clear that my race doesn’t even factor into the equation to her. But other people _do_ care, and I don't want to jeopardize her. I can't drag her into the shadows with me, that's not where she belongs." She then let out a dry, forlorn, semblance of a laugh. "…And honestly, an interracial _and_ homosexual couple…? It almost sounds like a bad joke. It's a disaster waiting to happen."

There was a heavy silence in which Blake managed to dry her tears before Weiss was able to say anything again. "I hate hearing you talk like that."

She shook her head dejectedly. "I'm trying to be realistic. I know what I am and I know what committing to me would mean for her future," Blake sniffed again and got up, her eyes scanning the room for some tissues. “We both know she could find herself an amazing guy at the drop of a hat if she wanted to. And who could blame her, that’d be so much easier on her than being with someone like me.”  
  
“Key words; _if she wanted to_ ,” Weiss shot back. “If she wanted some guy, she’d already have some guy,” her white-haired teammate argued as she stood too. “We both know there would be no need to fall back on someone she didn’t actively want. So ‘ _someone like you_ ’,” she stressed the words Blake had chosen to designate herself with as she air-quoted them, “... _is_ what she wants. You’ve got no right to diminish her choice.”  
  
Not having any answer to this, the brooding faunus wordlessly pulled tissues out of their box. She took a moment to start cleaning up her runny makeup. She didn’t know at what point in this conversation she let herself spiral down into self-hatred again.  
  
Seemingly encouraged by her silence, her teammate stepped a bit closer. "You can't make up your mind this way about what you can or can’t hope for before talking it out honestly with her."

Blake turned to her, snapping out of herself. "I can't be selfish, Weiss!"

"You  _ are _ being selfish! Doesn't she get a say in all this?" She argued right back. "It's selfish to decide for both of you that what you two could have isn't worth the fight! Even if being able to be together happened to require some struggle, you don’t get to give up in her stead!"

"But it's not like she has decided on anything anyways," the faunus miserably complained, throwing away the tissues she’d used in favor of pulling out some new ones. "I don't know what she wants!"

"Like that's a good excuse to deny her the opportunity to make both of you happy?" Weiss maintained. "You should tell her. Tell her you're serious about her."

"But  _ she knows _ !"

The white haired heiress stared back for a second, stumped. It took a second before she regained some verve. "Wait, didn't you say you didn't talk enough to…"

"I didn't  _ tell _ her," Blake allowed, "but it's not like I've tried very hard to hide it," she admitted. "...I've been…  _ quite _ open with allowing her to see what she represents to me. I believe she understands how I feel."

"…You let her guess?" Weiss carefully confirmed, earning herself a nod. She crossed her arms, seemingly a little perplexed. "…And she's still been…sleeping with you?"

"…Yeah."

She blinked several times, her gaze drifting down in contemplation before it snapped back up to the golden eyes. "…Isn't that a good thing?" she tried. "We both know she cares about you, if she does know and yet didn't reciprocate, wouldn't she have stopped so she wouldn't make it harder on both of you?"

Blake shrugged. Of course she hoped this was the case, but with the way her partner seemed scared of the topic, she still feared what could come out of the latest developments. "Maybe she thinks denying me this closeness she is willing to give me would be more cruel," she countered.

Weiss groaned. "…Did she say anything back?"

"…This is Yang we're talking about, of course she's said  _ plenty _ of things back. This girl talks  _ a lot _ ," the dark haired faunus remarked a little sarcastically. Wiping her eyes again with a tissue, she gave a curt sigh. "But no matter how much was said I couldn’t get anything tangible. I can’t get anything beyond a confused mess, which only amounted in confusing me as much as her about what she wanted." Blake then dropped herself back on her bed, her eyes wandering from her friend to the wooden slates supporting the mattress of her partner's bed above hers. "…Yang is very candid and impulsive. If she knew where she stood, she wouldn't be able to keep it to herself. At least not very long," Blake quietly mused, more thinking out loud than really addressing her teammate.

Weiss didn't seem to be able to find anything more to say to attempt to comfort her, she gave a small sigh.

**tbc**

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to do this faster, but I've had a lot on my plate outside of writing. I'm getting there :')


	6. Chapter 6

Her waking was pretty sudden that morning; her bed covers were mercilessly torn off to expose her to the cold air of the room. Yang sat up. Scanning around her bed to find the offender had her meet two cold blue orbs staring up at her.

"I'm accompanying Ruby to see Professor Ozpin before class, since your dear sister  _still_  hasn't turned in our entry for the Vytal festival's tournament. She still hadn't  _filled it in_  with the tournament  _tomorrow_!" Weiss explained without prior greetings. "I want you out of bed before we leave. If you're late to class again the whole team may very well get penalized. You know what happened with team JNPR last month."

"Good morning to you too," the blonde muttered, letting herself fall on her back once more.

"Get out of bed," the short lady insisted.

Yang rolled on her side and let the upper half of her body dangle from her bed to check the bed underneath hers. "Is Blake already gone?"

"She's in the bathroom getting ready," Weiss motioned towards the open door. "Unlike a certain someone who hits snooze about a dozen times before she just entirely  _turns off her alarm and stays in bed_ , Blake gets up even before the thing rings," she added in a bit of an accusatory tone, earning herself a grimace from the blonde.

Snubbing this trivial misdemeanor, Weiss went on. "Ruby and I will have breakfast afterwards, if you and Blake want to join us later at the cafeteria."

"We'll see," Yang swung down from her bed. "I'm up. You can leave," she flatly said. Her gaze flickered towards the bathroom's open door for a second before she found her friend's again.

The snow haired lady had done exactly the same, following Yang's line of sight towards the door, and as their gazes met again, the so very…  _odd_  way she stared back at her left the blonde somewhat disconcerted.

"Don't be late," Weiss repeated.

"I'm not going to be! You got me up this early," the blonde reminded her. With every intention to show her she would be ready in time, she trotted to her closet and took out her school uniform. "You and Ruby can leave now," she reiterated, unable to veil her impatience.

The bizarre look Weiss had been giving her turned to something Yang couldn't accurately pinpoint. Something of a mix between wary and critical. Weiss looked surprisingly very, very displeased. With no clue as to why, Yang nevertheless expected to be chewed out. It was ever more surprisingly that Weiss seemed to bite her tongue and swallow down that irritation. Without another word, she picked up her school supplies and ushered her younger partner out the door, though not without throwing the brawler a last stern look before leaving.

As soon as she heard the click of the door, Yang dropped her uniform on her desk and hurried to the bathroom.

Blake had already brushed her teeth and applied make-up; the last step of her routine was her hair, which she'd just started on, the ribbon she used as her trademark bow still on the bathroom counter. Surprised to see her partner storm in this way and even more so to be pulled into a fierce hug, Blake started to say something but before she could the blonde had stolen her lips. She docilely submitted to the kiss, forgetting for a second what she'd been doing.

Only when hands rid her of the red uniform ribbon so neatly tied around her neck did Blake seem to come back to her senses. "What are you doing they're-"

"They left," Yang cut in. "And once they've seen Ozpin, they're going to the cafeteria to get something to eat before class." Without further ceremony, she effortlessly hauled the faunus up to seat her on the bathroom counter. "That leaves us… what… an hour?"

"An hour in which you also need to get ready," she reminded her.

Yang took it upon herself to start unbuttoning her partner's shirt. "You've seen me get out of bed late. You know I'm an  _expert_ at getting ready in a couple of minutes."

Though she let herself be stripped, Blake nevertheless was clearly hesitant. She sat very still, her eyes unmoving from Yang's.

The blonde paused, holding her stare amusedly, knowing full well what to say to fire up her partner. "You don't feel like being my breakfast?" she questioned in a teasing tone.

As expected, the faunus instantly gave in, closing in for another kiss as she took off her blazer. The blonde's hands quickly finished their work and met her bare stomach, circling around inside her open dress shirt to draw her into a closer embrace. Blake wrapped her legs around her waist, her arms around her shoulders and, as their bodies fully came together, Yang felt her lust flare up tenfold. Her hands traveled up her partner's ribs to unhook her bra and she caressed down the perfect curve of her body again to the small of her back, then massaged back up. She felt Blake smile in the kiss, her tongue tracing her lower lip and, as they deepened the kiss, the all-consuming desire to have her writhe in pleasure took hold of Yang once more. Her hands urgently grabbed at her thighs and her lips fell on her neck, then quickly down her chest. Even with it being unhooked, Blake couldn't remove her bra, as they were in such a hurry she hadn't removed her blouse either; Yang simply pushed the cups up on her torso and stuck her mouth to one of her breasts. She felt the faunus's hands in her hair and the blonde pressed closer, lightly biting the hardened nipple as she sucked with more fervor.

Blake whined softly, pulling her closer with her legs and rubbing her core against her stomach. Feeling the heat through the garments made Yang shudder with lust; her hands moved back down to caress her thighs.

"Mark me," Blake whispered, her fingers balling into a fist to clutch her golden hair.

Despite her unbridledly unreeling passion, Yang was brought back to that conversation they had in the shower. She now grasped very well the underlying implications, and she  _knew_  what Blake thought of this, what they now both understood it suggested, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

…No, that wasn't true at all. If leaving evidence of this passion gave the impression she was making a statement… she  _did_  care. She cared because she had been too reckless already. The reason she in fact proceeded despite it all was that… the idea Blake could be perceived as hers or even that  _Blake_  could perceive herself as hers, was not one she could say she disliked.

In truth, even  _more so_  now that Blake had opened her eyes to its inherent subtext, she found the act of leaving marks on the other woman's body  _exceptionally_  arousing. She realized… she  _wanted_  to feel like she possessed her. And that notion, clear as it was in its essence… clear as it was in its implications, was one she willed to be locked away at the back of her mind as her mouth moved from her nipple to her skin. She sucked harshly to leave painless bruises between her breasts as well as a trail of them as she slowly headed down her stomach. Her lips approached the waistband of her skirt and she could feel Blake's grip of her hair roughen in an attempt to control the movement of her head; Yang surprised herself realizing she didn't mind. Her hair, over which she'd typically so hastily go ballistic, was being yanked more forcefully than she'd ever allowed it to be… and yet the only emotion it stirred was the excitement of being taken control of. She opted not to linger on why it was that Blake could pull on her beloved golden locks all she wanted.

She let her tongue follow the skin along the fabric of her skirt, earning herself a gasp from her partner. With both hands, Yang reached underneath the garment to help Blake, still sitting on the bathroom counter, wiggle out of her panties. Underwear promptly thrown to the ground, Yang's hands then trailed her legs, pushing her skirt up. She moved her lips from her stomach to the inside of her thigh and, as she closed in on her goal, the air felt hotter, heavier, saltier, musky. An all-consuming  _raw_ , hunger was hastily growing in the pit of her stomach, yet she made herself take the time to also mark the skin on the inside of her thigh. As she excruciatingly slowly inched closer to her soaked lips, the faunus huffed impatiently. Yang then felt the grip her partner had on her hair get rougher and, as if she'd had enough of teasing, as if she snapped, Blake shoved her face to her sex.

With a grin, completely unruffled by how forcefully her partner was now handling her, Yang readily took a mouthful, sucking on her lips, absolutely obliging her need. Blake relaxed right away -the blonde could feel it in her legs resting on her shoulders- as she thrust her hips almost imperceptibly. Yang pressed closer, her tongue tracing her opening. Its taste filled her mouth and she found herself positively  _relishing_  in that. She plunged her tongue inside of her, leisurely twisting it and Blake's purring grew loud enough for the brawler to hear as she leisurely rocked her hips along. Yang noted to herself that every time she got to taste her she loved it more and more. But that too, she decided she shouldn't linger on.

Bringing two fingers to slowly penetrate her had her partner whimper and writhe, struggling to keep her body propped up in a sitting position. Blake was so drenched that Yang's fingers slid in and out of her sloppily and it somehow got even worse as the blonde started fingering her faster, still kissing with an open mouth, tongue insistent on the hardened bud.

The air she breathed had become humid, suffocating with the heat of their bodies, of their increasingly vigorous movements. Her bangs stuck to the moist skin of the faunus's thighs and it felt like Blake's flesh was burning up more and more against her lips and tongue. The dark-haired woman could barely hold herself up, she leaned back against the mirror, thrusting her hips against her mouth, following the pace of her fingers. She didn't seem to know what to do with her hands; one second, they were in the golden hair, the other they were trying to help supporting her sitting up. As she cradled her head closer again, she brought one trembling hand to her mouth.

"Yang…" She gasped under her breath and Yang felt her heart skip a beat. It was followed by a tremendous shiver going down her spine that seemed to unleash extraordinary,  _maddening_ passion, a ravaging blaze throughout her body. Yet she couldn't double up her efforts now; she already felt her fingers squeezed as Blake tensed up and she knew altering her rhythm would be counter effective. Her partner was quivering, desperately trying to regulate her breathing, to fill her lungs with air. The blonde still licked in long, slow strokes, keeping her fingers deep in her until she felt her start to relax. Only when she finally did, did Yang move away.

Strangely elated, she kissed her thigh and then her stomach, taking her time kissing up between her breasts, then following her collarbone slowly. Arms incited her to melt into a warm embrace and Yang obliged, welcoming her tenderness and need. She pressed her mouth to her neck burningly, feeling her fast pulse under her lips.

"You said my name," she noted in a whisper.

Still heaving from the effort, Blake had no energy to try challenge that. "So I did," she acquiesced almost inaudibly.

"I… I really loved that you did," the blonde admitted, disconcerted with how unexpectedly flustered both hearing her say it and sharing this revelation with her partner made her.

Blake was silent for a while, catching her breath. Her delicate fingers combed the blonde mane gently. "…I imagined you would, with how you've been asking," she then allowed.

Yang drew back enough to observe her features. She wanted to know what kind of expression her partner had as she gave those prudent responses. Instead, she was once more awestruck with how even in such a disheveled state, with her skin flushed and midnight bangs messily sticking to her forehead, Blake was so, so  _absurdly_ gorgeous. The gold of her eyes flickered with something that only this type of relief and comfort ever brought out of her, a vulnerability that under virtually no circumstances she would let show through. With it, there was this unmistakable yearning, this affection, this…  _adoration_ that Yang would catch a glimpse of in some rare occasions.

Her heart was violently pounding in her chest and the brawler knew it wasn't from the exertion of bringing her partner to climax. Holding her unshielded stare, faced with her unspoken truth, Yang breathed out shakily. The sound of Blake's voice whispering her name in rapture echoed in her head.

"…I need to hear it again," she found herself articulating anxiously, returning her fingers between the faunus's legs. Faint contractions were still perceptible at her entrance as Yang very gently caressed her, coating her fingers with her arousal.

"What…?" The dark-haired beauty shakily breathed, having obviously not completely recovered yet.

"Say my name again," she clarified, pushing her fingers in.

Blake threw her head back, her mouth open in a silent cry, her eyes shut tightly. She fumbled to find a steady grip on her partner and forced her head upright again, locking a puzzled, fretful gaze with hers. It was only a few gentle thrusts of Yang's fingers for her legs to wrap themselves around her waist, for her hips to find a slow rhythm against Yang's hand. "What are you doing…?" Blake still protested, cupping her cheek. "I won't have time to do you…"

She tilted her head into her hand, turning just enough to kiss her palm. "It's okay," she dismissed as she leaned closer to rest her forehead against hers. "…Just say it again."

The faunus stared back in silence, searching her eyes, evidently seeking to determine why the blonde urged this out of her.

Yang couldn't even pinpoint it herself. Though, admittedly… something at the back of her mind insisted that she in fact knew  _very well_  why, that she had to be  _stupid_  not to catch onto the obviousness of her behavior towards the woman in her arms.

Yet still, straining not to dwell on her own motivations, struggling to ignore the haunting, unrelenting feeling of being on the verge of an emotional breakthrough, the one thing she accepted, the one thing she just couldn't hide from, was that she  _needed_  to hear it. With her forehead leaning against hers, Yang held her stare. Blake's gleaming golden eyes were glazed from pleasure and confusion. "Blake,  _please_ ," she insisted.

In response, Blake pulled her closer and moved in to brush her mouth to hers, kissing her only with the tip of her lips between burning exhalations. "…Yang," she allowed herself to whisper, her voice saturated with desire.

The blonde shivered with excitement. She pumped her fingers a little faster, careful to apply gentle pressure against the front wall and her partner seemed to be melting in her arms. "Again, say it again," she pleaded, curling her fingers, pressing their bodies together.

Blake arched her back, squirming with pleasure, hanging onto her. "Yang," she moaned markedly louder, obstinately staring back, and Yang was utterly hypnotized with her. She squeezed in a third finger, earning herself a brusque gasp; the faunus rocked her hips with renewed vigor, biting her lower lip as the purring started anew. "Yang," she murmured avidly, without being prompted to this time. She huffed harshly, hands rummaging through golden locks, kissing her once more, inhaling sharply and moaning yet again. Her eyes rolled in pleasure for a second as she evidently was losing herself in the sensations but then somehow, she managed to find her gaze again. "Yang, I… …I…" Her breath was running out and she was panting, unable to articulate anything else.

Intense violet eyes were locked onto the gold orbs and her heart hammered in her chest with anticipation. "You…?" she expectantly pressed.

Her questioning brought a spark of lucidity to flash in her eyes and Blake abruptly stopped purring, as if shaken. She quickly broke eye contact as she tightened her embrace to nuzzle into the crook of her partner's neck. "…I want to touch you too," she managed unsteadily.

Yang felt her rush shatter.

It was painfully obvious that this wasn't what Blake had started saying, that Blake had caught herself and bit back those words Yang had made explicitly clear she hadn't been ready to hear. Swallowing the disheartened feeling that had abruptly chilled her, she leaned her cheek against her head, breathing in the intoxicating scent of her hair, feeling herself relax back into what she was doing. "I know. We'll get to that…" she quietly breathed, pushing her fingers deeper inside her. She didn't want to think about why being denied the confession she realized she'd anticipated disappointed her so.

Blake pushed back with her hips, clutching the back of her orange tank top in trembling fists, her panting searing the skin of her shoulder and neck. Yang cradled her closer, rubbing her cheek to the top of her head, dark curls so soft against her skin. "…Talk to me again…?"

She felt her head shake 'no' faintly and Yang pumped her fingers in a shorter movement, though much faster. Blake moaned feverishly, frantically grasping at her back, hands then losing themselves in the blonde mane.

"…You turn me on so much," Yang gently murmured next a quivering cat ear, prompting the purring to resume. "Just doing you, I'm also feeling myself getting close," she admitted. It was true; her own core throbbed, so aching to be touched that even the faint brush of the fabric of her pajama was of some relief.

Blake gasped. Her hands flowed down her back, caressing her ass, then back up again, inciting the blonde to press closer in an almost suffocating embrace.

"You can keep touching if it gets you off," Yang suggested and right away she felt fingers slip in at the back of her loose black shorts to grip her naked rear. Against her own chest resonated the vibration emerging from her partner's ribcage and the distinct purring sound coming from her throat was undeniably louder. Yang found herself grinning once again; it  _did_  flatter her ego that groping her ass would have that effect on Blake.

The next moment, the faunus tensed up and the thrust of her hips came in a spasmodic motion, she seemed unable to catch her breath. The blonde kissed the top of her head in a lingering, tender kiss and Blake's hands gauchely moved from her ass to properly embrace her. The purring started to fade as she slowly settled back down and only then did Yang draw back, though only far enough so she could claim her lips again. The other woman lazily kissed her back, her legs around her waist loosening considerably.

"You monster," Blake accused quietly, their lips still grazing.

"…So what if I am?" The blonde breathed as an answer.

The dark haired faunus pressed her mouth to hers once more and, with the way she took control of the kiss, the brawler could feel her partner's sluggishness wearing off faster than it usually did. Maybe this being the beginning of the day left her with more energy?

Blake ran her tongue along her lower lip before biting it gently as she drew back. "You don't regret not leaving time for you?"

"We have time for me," Yang shot back. "I'm so, so fired up, all I need is a small push." With this, she untangled herself enough to drop her pajama shorts to the ground and then climbed on the bathroom counter to straddle her lap. Without shame, she pulled her orange tank above her head, now completely naked. "…Unless you mind?"

"…Really?" Blake's eyes swept down her shape for a quick glance at her body before she pulled her closer. "Do you  _actually_ think I'd mind?"

"Only 'cause we're a little pressed for time, you may have wanted to redo your hair and makeup," the blonde explained.

"I'd rather be late for class than leave you hanging," she answered with a smile, prompting a hearty laugh from her partner.

"We can't be late, Weiss would  _kill_  us," she argued.

"Then we'll be fast," Blake resolved. "…Besides, if you want me as much as I've been wanting you, this won't take long," she affirmed, caressing her ass again in large, circular motions.

Yang felt herself grin. "As much? Maybe I want you more than you want me," she teased, slowly rocking her hips, itching for one of her hands to drop between her legs.

"I doubt it."

"Then show me," the blonde dared, another effort to incite the caresses she was dying for.

The moment the words passed her lips, the golden eyes had sharply locked onto hers, shining with resolved ferociousness. It only lasted a heartbeat, but there was something exceedingly savage about her. It was hard to believe this was the same level-headed and composed woman she called her partner; Yang was staggered. Blake crashed her mouth to hers, her nails dug into her as she yanked her closer with a strength that Yang knew Blake's deceptively delicate body concealed but was nevertheless always surprised to experience. And the blonde avidly kissed her back, greedily trying to quench her lust. Blake bit her lower lip, pushed her tongue in her mouth as she devoured it, her breathing harsh with passion. She felt Blake's fingers slide inside of her, coaxing a satisfied moan out of her, and Yang knew it unquestionably wouldn't take more than a few minutes for her climax. But then, almost as if in a dream, somewhere far, far off, she heard the sound of a door. She broke the kiss abruptly and met her partner's worried gaze, both of them now completely still.

"Yang? Blake?" Ruby's voice in their shared room made them jump out of their skin.

Yang was off her and back in her pajamas in record time while Blake reattached her bra and started buttoning her shirt as quick as she could.

The blonde picked up her partner's underwear. "We're in the bathroom Ruby," she answered, helping her slip back into it while the dark haired faunus finished buttoning her shirt and straightening her top.

"You're still not ready?" Ruby called from the bedroom.

"No, uh, we…" Yang glanced at herself in the mirror, quickly trying to straighten out her hair. "Weren't you heading to the cafeteria right away…?"

"We were, but I noticed I took the wrong book for class so I dashed back here," her voice sounded closer, as their leader manifestly was approaching the bathroom. The next moment, Ruby poked her head in. "Weiss stayed back at the cafeteria, she said she'd eat with Pyrrha and Jaune while I—Oh my God!" She stared them both down. With their clothing ruffled, reddened skin and being slightly out of breath, Ruby could only conclude one thing. "Did you two get into a fight or something?"

Intense relief washed over her, unbelievably grateful for her sister's naïve assessment.

"…We sorted it out, it's fine!" The blonde blurted, rolling with it.

Her sibling, still wide-eyed, was unconvinced. "…Are you  _sure_  you're okay? I mean, to get to violence, your argument must've been pretty-"

"Ruby," Blake cut in, "we're good, don't worry," she quickly said. "We just had to resolve… a… pressing issue."

She blinked quickly several times, her gaze then moving from the faunus to her older sister. "…You've already kissed and made up?"

"We did  _exactly_  that," Yang swung her arm around her partner's shoulders for emphasis; she felt a hand snake around her waist and Blake pulled her a little closer.

This seemed to convince Ruby, as her features finally settled from the shock and worry. "Well… Okay," she hesitantly gave. Then, and only then, did her expression tint itself with a hint of mischief. "So. Who won?"

It was no surprise that Ruby would require this information.

"I did," Blake answered.

"Did  _not_ ," Yang instantly argued.

Blake eyed her nonchalantly. "Everything's resolved on my side," she reminded her. "How bothered are  _you_  still?"

Stunned with her partner's audacity, outright asking this in front of Ruby, the blonde could only speechlessly stare back at her.

The corner of her lip curled into a bit of a smug smirk. "Doesn't that make me the winner?"

Yang's mouth hung up open in disbelief and a frown slowly took over her features. She then felt Ruby gently pat her arm and glanced back at her sister.

"Don't be mad Yang, you'll get a rematch sooner or later," the short girl encouragingly tried.

Blake snorted. "Yeah, don't be mad," she piped in, drawing the aggravated brawler's gaze back to her. "You  _will_  get that rematch," she promised, a mischievous twinkle to her eye.

Yang narrowed her eyes, in no mood to be teased.

The faunus's lips broke into a full smile. "Now get ready or we'll be late."

She stuck her tongue at her and went on to wash her face without another word, meanwhile her sister had the grace to fetch her uniform and underwear for her. Without missing a beat, the blonde pulled her top above her head and grabbed her bra, earning herself a squeak from Ruby.

"Yang! Have some shame!" she exclaimed, silver eyes glancing towards the faunus before averting her eyes.

"What?" She unconcernedly questioned back while fastening her bra. "You're my sister and Blake's… Blake," she added as she repositioned her breasts in the cups and slipped on her blouse, buttoning it.

"What does that even mean," Ruby mumbled more to herself than her two teammates, opting to go and find her missing school manual while they finished getting ready.

Blake leaned the side of her hip to the bathroom counter and crossed her arms, studying the blonde as she changed. "You  _should_  be a little more careful," she commented quietly.

"Should I?" She changed her loose pajama shorts for clean underwear and her skirt.

The golden eyes stayed on her shape as she did so. "…You used to show more modesty, she may find it strange."

Even if her sister was making a racket searching for her book in their shared room, Yang closed in to assure they wouldn't be overheard. "Ruby would never have suspicions about something like this," she rationalized almost inaudibly. "It would've been obvious to anyone else what we'd been doing;  _she_ thought we'd been  _fighting,_ for God's sake."

"Yeah…" Blake agreed in a sigh. She stayed immobile another moment, staring back at her. "…Yang, don't forget to brush your teeth," she added somewhat out of the blue, "or we may get busted."

"What?" She laughed, poking her in the torso. "My breath smells like pussy… cat?"

The faunus raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "This was too predictable to be even  _remotely_  amusing," she dryly answered.

"I'm funny," the blonde huffed, grabbing her toothbrush.

"Whatever you wanna tell yourself," Blake answered with a roll of her eyes, starting up on redoing her makeup.

Yang quickly brushed her teeth and applied light make-up as the faunus slowly fixed her hair and bow. Blake grabbed her scroll and, in an attempt to check the time, Yang glanced at the screen over her shoulder. She was astonished to see an impressive amount of missed calls from Weiss in the last minutes.

"Wow, you think she's in trouble?" The blonde grabbed her own scroll to see if she'd tried reaching her too, but nothing showed. Understanding that their friend's apparent emergency wasn't something life-threatening, but rather of a personal nature concerning Blake, she turned again to her raven-haired partner. "...Are you going to call her back?" She curiously asked.

Blake gave a light sigh. "No need."

Cocking her head to the side in a silent question, she kept staring. Did her partner share secrets with their snow haired friend? Things Yang didn't know? …Since when?

As if she'd read the questions on her mind, Blake shook her head. "…Weiss probably wanted to warn us that Ruby was heading to our room in case we were doing… exactly what we were doing," she explained. Yang's expression surely betrayed her surprise because Blake followed suit with her explanations. "She… saw through me, the way I'd been looking at you," the faunus offered quietly. "She confronted me with it and I…I ended up telling her we have," she paused for a second, hesitating, "…something."

And all at once, their friend's peculiar behavior earlier that morning made complete sense. Yang realized Weiss had understood why she was urging her to leave and that this probably was why she'd reminded her several times not to be late. The blonde instantly felt incredibly self-conscious. Weiss had known. She'd known her intentions, and she also knew exactly what would happen as soon as she and Ruby would leave the room.

Yang didn't know what to think or how to react to all this. Not only because she now realized how obvious she may have been, but also because… she  _barely_  was starting to be comfortable with her newfound identity. She wasn't sure how ready she had been for anyone else to know yet. On top of it, this wasn't  _just_   _anyone_! Weiss was a close friend… who had previously shown herself to be quite narrow-minded. As Yang's thoughts spiraled down, she abruptly came aware of how her stomach and throat tightened. Her fingers were cold and palms clammy; apprehension chilled her. Had she mistaken irritation with revulsion earlier? Was Weiss revolted with knowing this? "…She… knows? That we…?"

As Blake stared back at her, watching the blood drain from her face, watching her whole disposition lose its carefreeness, she seemed to be struck with realization. "Oh…" she quietly said, bringing her hand to cover her mouth. "I'm  _so_  sorry," Blake instantly apologized in a whisper. "I should've asked before I said anything, I should  _never_  have outed you without your consent, I-I never imagined you may not have been comfortable with her knowing about you having tendencies and… a-and… I…" she stammered, nervously inhaling a sharp breath. "I… in the moment… I didn't think, I…. I mean, you'd suggested we tell them so we could… have private time, so it never crossed my mind that-"

"Never mind, Blake, it's okay," Yang cut in, and she saw some, if not most, of the tension leave her partner's features. Still hesitant, she searched her golden eyes for any clue of her exchange with Weiss having gone south, even in the slightest. "It's just that…Weiss isn't very… you know? I mean…she…was okay with that?"

"She was startled," Blake conceded, "but she doesn't have a problem with same-sex attraction."

The blonde felt herself relax considerably. "That's a relief," she gave with a sigh. Thinking it over, Yang was reminded how their friend had made tremendous progress over the last months, first changing her discourse about faunus, and subsequently being significantly less judgmental with other matters. This also prompted her to acknowledge how the snow haired lady hadn't behaved any differently towards them, to the point Yang hadn't even realized she had been aware of what was going on with her and Blake. Moreover, she had even tried to give them a head's up about Ruby, and this also deserved some credit.

"I do however think she disapproves," Blake admitted and, as Yang started to frown, the faunus anticipated what she was going to say. "Not because we're both women but… I mean… what we're doing, as it is," she tried ambiguously, her eyes drifting to the floor.

Yang felt a twinge of discomfort – was it irritation? There was a clear sense of defensiveness to it. "…She doesn't have a say in this though," she warily cautioned.

"Are you two coming?" Ruby's voice interjected from the room; she'd apparently finally found her book.

"Of course, she doesn't," Blake agreed. "In truth, she never said she disapproved… it's simply the feeling I got."

If she indeed had a problem with it, it'd explain Weiss narrowing her eyes at her in condemnation earlier. "Why do you think she…" Yang started asking but trailed off, feeling a little stupid for even questioning this.

It was obvious why. If Weiss had heard Blake's account, then she had probably also had some insight on the faunus's feelings… of how Yang was most definitely hurting her and of how precarious the situation may be. Weiss probably was aware of how Yang deliberately ignored what had to be discussed, of how she kept the situation nebulous while still selfishly indulging in something that could potentially be disastrous for the team. It was only a given that the heiress would be displeased with a precarious situation like this one.

Before anything else could be said, Ruby popped in again, insisting they leave.

Managing to make it to the cafeteria with some spare time to eat, the three girls joined with their remaining teammate and their other friends. Ruby resumed animatedly chatting with Nora, a conversation she had apparently left hanging to get her precious book, while Yang, sitting with Blake, found herself very aware of pale blue eyes scrutinizing the two of them in an unquestionably analytical way. Now aware that Blake had talked to her, Yang had a good guess at what her teammate was looking for; evidence of what Ruby may have interrupted. In an attempt to test her assumption, the blonde subtly rearranged her clothes, as if they'd needed readjustment after having been ruffled by that intimate moment with her partner. Unsurprisingly, Weiss averted her eyes, her face growing a pinkish red.

The rest of the day went by in a blur, classes were cut short for the teams participating in the Vytal Tournament; teachers gracefully allowed them a few extra hours of preparation to strategize, clean and sharpen their weapons and armor. Or simply relax before the big day, if they so desired. The excitement of the event could be felt in the air, to the point it was hard to find any sleep—the four of them were up at the crack of dawn. It however didn't prevent team RWBY from prevailing in their first match. Though admittedly a tad disorganized at first, they'd managed to snatch quite a smooth victory.

After their congratulatory meal with team JNPR and subsequently viewing said team's match, they opted to stay in the stadium to witness their other friends' fights; watching as team CFVY secured their own victory, and then followed by another, albeit less smooth, win from team SSSN.

Ruby, having been on edge the whole match, sank in her seat. "Urhh! That was so close!"

Yang looked on with a grin as Sun and Neptune, the two left standing of the team, gracelessly but candidly danced their victory. "Looks like the dorks made it to the next round!" She exclaimed.

The next moment, the blond faunus boy gestured towards Blake in elation; Yang didn't notice how her own smile melted off her features.

"Emphasis on dork…" Blake mumbled under her breath as she averted her eyes, blushing self-consciously at the overt attention.

The purple eyes drifted from her partner to the blonde faunus's figure again as he was walking out of the arena. The brawler now realized her fingers were cold, her chest constricted, something didn't feel right. Before she could identify what was happening, the loudspeaker buzzed and Doctor Ooblek's voice came on.

"That concludes the matches for the day," the message started, "please leave the coliseum in A CALM AND ORDERLY FASHION." His voice suddenly booming forced horrible feedback from the speakers, making everyone cringe.

The sudden disruption shook off the strange feeling Yang couldn't place as they were now forced to move on with their day, and she stood. "Come on, let's go congratulate them," she suggested.

Receiving nods of agreement from the group, they all started towards the nearest exit of the stadium. Though almost immediately, Ruby grouchily complaining had the blonde glancing back at the team; her sister had bumped into Weiss, who's gaze was fixed to the sky in wonder.

The snow haired lady stood still, completely absorbed with the airship slowly travelling over them. "She's here," she whispered in amazement.

"Who's here?" Ruby quizzically inquired, blinking in few times.

Weiss paid no attention to her partner. " _She's here_!" She repeated excitedly, dashing to the exit.

The three of them looked at each other, and, as leader and self-proclaimed BFF, Ruby instantly volunteered: "I'll go with Weiss, see what's up!" And thus, ran off after her before anything else can be said.

The blonde's eyes followed her sister's rapidly disappearing figure until she was out of sight, then only did she turn to her faunus partner. "We're still going to see Sun and his boys?"

"Sure," Blake acquiesced, following close as they made their way backstage.

It was surprisingly arduous to meet up with them; it seemed the guys from team SSSN had brought a small fan club –complete with giant signs of Sun's abs- from overseas. They nevertheless managed to push their way through the crowd, and, the very second the blonde faunus spotted them, it was almost embarrassing how much space he made for them.

Yang was fairly impressed with how well her typically discreet partner handled the attention all this drew to her; on one had there was Sun gushing over her, then on the other, the negativity his focus on Blake brought about from his little fan club. Though it didn't take much time before true nature unsurprisingly showed through, and the blonde brawler could clearly see how suffocated by the crowd and agitation her dark-haired partner was. None of the boys seemed to pick up on it, and Yang decided that… before Blake's discomfort became too obvious, they should excuse themselves.

Mentioning she'd received a message from Ruby about their uncle arriving in town this evening and wanting to meet their team, she promptly dragged Blake away. They were gone fairly quickly, to the boys' great disenchantment; Yang had determined it was best not to leave anyone room to suggest something like… all of them meeting said uncle or accompanying them.

Hurrying towards one of the airships acting as a shuttle from the stadium to the academy, they made it with only a few minutes before it departed. The day having come to an end, the aircraft was pretty full, and they were forced to stand. Lucky to find a spot next to a window, they were at least able to watch the scenery as they traveled over Vale to Beacon Academy.

"So, your uncle…?" Blake inquired quietly.

"Yeah. Ruby says they've met Weiss's sister and then our uncle Qrow showed up," she related. "He hasn't been in town for months, so he'll drop by our room to see Ruby and I tomorrow."

"…Not  _today_?"

A light smile etched itself on her features. "He has important matters with Ozpin, we won't see him today."

As she understood her partner had bent the truth to allow them to leave, Blake's expression softened. "Was it so obvious that I wanted out…?"

"I don't think the guys noticed," the blonde offered.

The faunus stared at her pointedly. "But  _you_  have," she indicated.

"Of course I have, Blake, we spend nearly every waking hour together."

Her features now split into a genuine smile. "Point made…" she conceded. "Thank you. For getting me away from all that agitation."

"No problem," Yang grinned back.

The faunus turned again to the unraveling scenery under them, settling in a comfortable silence. Blake gazed out as dusk started to settle over the kingdom of Vale and Yang noticed the ardent colors of the sunset sky reflected in the golden of her eyes, making them appear to be alight with incandescent fire. Her profile outlined by the twilight glow and the warmth seemingly seeping in her skin completed the breathtaking picture and Yang was left to wonder… how was it not criminal to be so beautiful?

Blake's soft voice broke the blonde out of her trance. "... I don't think Sun realizes I'm not too much of a people person," she commented.

Yang looked on at her partner interestedly, wondering if it was possible she hadn't noticed the boy's interest in her. "…He's just fawning over you because he likes you," she said, studying her features, on the lookout for any indication of surprise.

Still gazing out at the orange-tinted landscape, Blake gave a gentle sigh "…I know," she quietly acquiesced. "Of course I know."

With a nod, the blonde managed to detach her eyes from her, opting to settle on the view again. "Okay. Just wanted to be sure you were aware, since… you know. You haven't done anything about it."

In response, the faunus shrugged almost imperceptibly. "There is nothing to do about it, he hasn't come forward with it," she explained.

"So you just let him flirt?" She found herself saying, without anticipating how this could be interpreted.

There was a long pause and Yang eventually looked back over to her. Blake was staring at her quizzically, she opened her mouth and closed it again. Frowning a little now, she opened her mouth a second time. "…Are you… _jealous_?"

Yang raised her eyebrows in honest surprise. "No, I was just wondering why you let it drag on when…"  _'when you only have eyes for me,'_  was how she burned to finish her sentence, but she opted not to. "When you have no interest," she conservatively offered. "Why would I be jealous?" she curiously asked.

Blake leaned her head against the window, still observing her. "He's an attractive guy," she offered. "What if I entertained the thought of giving him a chance?"

Her answer spurred the blonde's chest to tighten in the same way it had a bit earlier, when Sun had displayed from the ring overt attention towards the dark-haired faunus. It was distressing and unsettling. "I haven't… I haven't seen interest when you look at him, so I never thought you did," she tentatively explained. And as she said this, though she thought she'd been quite certain of Blake's feelings, she couldn't help the doubts the present conversation now induced. Along with it, a very clear uneasiness took hold of her. "…What, am I wrong? Do you… like him?"

The golden orbs stayed steadily fixed on hers, impenetrable. "…What if I did?"

"…But you don't."

"But what if I did?"

"But you  _don't_ ," Yang stressed, aware she was more agitated than she would have been comfortable showing. "Right?" She stepped closer, so very mindful of how her behavior wasn't consistent with what emotional distance she'd been maintaining by refusing to address what Blake kept hinting at. So very mindful that she had no right to be acting this way when she didn't have any avowed commitment to her partner. "You don't, right? No what ifs."

"Don't get upset, geez," Blake cautiously defended, eyeing her somewhat incredulously.

"I'm  _not_  upset," she shot back without giving it a thought.

Her partner stared back at her for a second, manifestly in plain disbelief, before she started moving towards the exit.

Only with this did the blonde notice the ship had landed. Nevertheless, she stayed immobile for a second as Blake disappeared in the exiting crowd. When she snapped out of it, Yang caught a glance of herself in the large windows of the airship; her reflection's vivid red eyes startled her, and the surprise made the color blink back to the customary violet color.

Perplexed, she hurried after Blake, jogging lightly to catch up to her as they headed in the direction of the dorm. She walked several steps behind her, eyes fixated on her partner's back as they walked back to their room in silence. They let themselves in, and the blonde watched as the other woman took off her shoes and made herself comfortable on her bed with one of her novels. Yang leaned her back against the door, staring at her for a long time, and Blake seemed content to just let her observe her.

"I wouldn't like it," Yang finally said, a little out of the blue.

Her eyes stayed riveted to the pages off her book. "Hmm?"

"If you liked him," the blonde specified, feeling so self-conscious about admitting this. "I wouldn't handle that well. At all." Her voice sounded weaker than she would've liked.

Blake's gaze drifted up and she stared back for a short moment before her features softened. "…I thought so," she conceded, looking rather satisfied with Yang admitting this. She rested her book on her nightstand and patted the mattress, motioning for Yang to come and sit with her.

The blonde promptly obeyed; she dropped herself to lie on the bed next to her sitting partner and rolled on her side to hug her waist. Hiding her face against the other woman's body, she felt a hand softly go through her curls, delicately untangling her hair. She tightened her embrace. "So… you  _don't_  like him, right?" She couldn't help asking. It all felt stupidly childish, but she  _needed_  confirmation.

"Not romantically," Blake offered.

"…Not  _romantically_ …?"

Blake sighed, catching onto why Yang emphasized this. After all, their unspoken agreement was that they weren't to call their interest in each other romantic either. "There is no attraction, Yang. Of any kind," she gently said. "I like him, but it's absolutely platonic."

She felt herself relax considerably. Even if she'd rationally known this, even if she'd been essentially convinced she already understood exactly what Blake's feelings were, Yang still had been bothered by this irrational, illogical, even  _foolish_  kind of… what was it…? Concern? …Fear?

She loosened her grip on her enough to glance up at her. "…Sorry, I…" She exhaled shakily. "I don't know what came over me…."

"It sounds like you may have been jealous," Blake answered, and though her features were quite impassive, the blonde could undeniably distinguish a positively delighted gleam in her partner's eye.

She frowned lightly, pouting despite herself. "I…" She was about to disagree but faltered. "…Was I?"

"I'm pretty sure that was jealousy," the faunus sustained, and the corner of her lips broke into an almost imperceptible smile.

The blonde groaned dejectedly, pushing her face back into her side, in the black material of her partner's clothing. "I don't want to be like this," she complained, tightening once more her hold on her. "…Sorry."

Blake's hand in her hair stopped moving, and her voice was so very gentle. "Why are you sorry?"

She shrugged awkwardly, still hugging her waist. "…Just… 'cause."

There was a silence, and then the faunus reiterated her question. "Why are you sorry, Yang?"

This way Blake had to calmly  _impose_  an answer out of her, somehow making her feel she had no choice but to answer, didn't help with how incredibly self-conscious she felt.

"…Nothing, I…" She held her breath a second. "Just…" she tried again, searching for the right manner to go about explaining this. "…Just, I have no right to be jealous, and yet…" Yang gave a small resigned sigh. "Yet, you're right. That's exactly it."

Blake's fingers resumed combing tenderly through the soft golden hair. "…It doesn't bother me," she said, and the blonde had the unshakable feeling that her partner was in fact  _enjoying_  that she showed herself to be a tad possessive.

Letting go of her to sit up, Yang turned her back to the other woman as she slid both feet to the ground. "It bothers  _me_ ," she protested.

She was in fact somewhat in disbelief with her own behavior. What nerve she showed. It embarrassed her to be acting so greedily. How dare she, when she was herself insisting on keeping her partner in limbo, when it was she who feared addressing something Blake desperately needed out in the open… how could she still  _selfishly_  resent Sun? And for what? Him hoping to be able to offer Blake what she deserved? A genuine, committed relationship? Something more,  _better_ , than whatever Yang was subjecting her to?

Yang leaned forward slightly, resting her elbows on her thighs and bowing her head to lace her fingers behind her neck. "I can't be like this. It's unfair."

Blake repositioned herself to sit next to her on the edge of the bed instead of remaining behind her. "…Would reminding you that I'm not about to go look anywhere else help?" She gently tried.

This would indeed help with the jealousy issue, but it also served to remind her that Blake was waiting on her, and the pressure it created had her body tense up. "That's even worse," she quietly answered, bowing her head a little more. The blonde loathed her conflicting behavior but even above that, she loathed how petrified she found herself of exploring where all this stemmed from and uncovering what was inside of her. "…You deserve better, Blake."

It was a short pause before she answered, and Blake's tone was distinctly darker. "That's a matter of perspective," she murmured, drawing the violet eyes to her. Her cat ears seemed to want to flatten backwards, as the bow awkwardly shifted, and it was very quietly and ill at ease that she spoke again. "You know, at times, I get the feeling like I've been soiling you," she admitted.

In a flash, Blake's whispered confession from that night they slept in each other's arms came back to her. About how unjustly she'd been made to feel about her faunus heritage, about how at times she still felt she was something she should be ashamed of being. Yang's entire body jolted upright with conviction and her voice came out more forceful than she'd intended it to be. "I never want to hear you say something like that again," she vehemently said. "All you've brought me, I'm incredibly grateful for. Don't  _ever_  think for a second I'd wish for anything less than what we have."

Her fervent reaction had struck Blake speechless and, when she recovered, she shyly let her eyes drift to the floor. Yang found herself wanting to tell her... something to comfort her more, wanting to tell her…

What, exactly?

The rhythm of her heart leaped. What  _did_  she want to say?

In silence, she reached to entwine her fingers with hers. Blake gave a gentle squeeze back.

"Thank you," the dark-haired faunus quietly mouthed, moving a tad closer. "I feel likewise. You've also brought me so much, I…" she trailed off, her eyes now wandering to their joined hands. "…Yang, that's why what  _I_  don't want to hear from you is that I should yearn for something else," Blake looked up at her. "Sun and whatever he wants to offer me… it's  _not_  what I want."

Yang held her gaze for a second, and again, this felt like a decisive moment. She knew now was not only a good time to broach this, it was already way past time they did. She knew all she had to ask Blake was what was it that she  _did_  want. Or say anything really that would let her know that Yang was willing to talk.

But these few words seemed like such incredibly daunting ones, she found herself unable to open her mouth. Mostly because, if she was to be honest, she still couldn't anticipate what her own answer would be if Blake  _did_  come clean, and Yang wondered… would Blake resent her if she asked her to come out with her feelings only to not be able to answer still?

She thought of the morning prior, of how disheartened she'd felt with Blake catching herself, and how… how she couldn't help thinking that maybe, just  _maybe_ , addressing Blake's feelings overtly and honestly would settle her own heart. Maybe that's what she needed? It wouldn't be farfetched that she would need something like this. After all… knowing for a fact that she  _would_  be welcomed and desired, that would make the prospect of allowing herself to be vulnerable, allowing herself to accept that maybe she'd reached a point where she  _needed_  Blake much less intimidating.

With this notion persistently making itself more and more felt, she was more and more convinced that she _should_  indeed ask her… and of course, the more convinced she felt, the more anxious she grew. As impenetrable golden eyes stayed steady on the fretful amethyst ones, Yang wondered if she looked as nervous as she felt. There were a million ways she could broach this, a million manners she could ask to open up this conversation, all she needed was to formulate  _one_  thought, utter  _one_  short question… yet her rushing mind was completely blank.

Words almost on her lips, the silence stretched. Before she could find the nerve to say anything, Blake leaned in for a gentle kiss on her cheek. "You have no reasons to worry about him, alright?" she quietly said, moving on. She grabbed her novel again and went back to her initial position, leaning against the headboard of her bed with her book.

Yang silently exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

It took another moment for her to decide that she really didn't feel like busying herself with her own hobbies. She turned around and crawled back in her partner's bed, forcing Blake to readjust her position as Yang squeezed herself between her legs to settle over her in her arms, her head on her chest.

She closed her eyes and affectionately rubbed her cheek against her breast. "Don't mind me," she murmured, making herself comfortable hugging her.

Without another word, Blake resumed her reading, and Yang found she was very thankful her partner let her invade her space this way without inquiring. Every day that went by, she was now very aware, the need for some sort of closeness with Blake made itself increasingly persistent. Moments like this, she relished in as much as when they'd give into their desire for each other. Blake's dizzyingly enthralling scent saturated her senses and she listened to her heartbeat, her head soothingly rocked by the slow rising and falling of her chest. Every minute or so, Yang would hear a page turned, as her partner went through her novel. Again, she rubbed her cheek gently against her, and this prompted Blake to distractedly comb through her blonde curls with one hand, stopping only to turn a page from time to time.

All this was so unbelievably calming, so incredibly comfortable, Yang completely lost track of time. The sky had gone from a pinkish orange to a dark blue when Blake ultimately seemed to lose interest with her book. She marked the page and placed it back on her bedside table. Idly, she kept running her fingers through her hair.

"Yang?"

She exhaled silently, hoping she wouldn't be asking her to move. "What is it, kitten?"

"I've been thinking," she quietly started. Her hand stopped moving in her hair. "…And I… …think I'm gay."

Eyes fluttering open, she glanced up at her in surprise. This surely was unexpected.

Blake seemed a little embarrassed, she avoided meeting her gaze. "… I just… I thought you should know."

She repositioned herself so she could keep looking at her without straining her neck. "I thought you said you had some interest in both?"

"…That night…?" Blake quietly asked, glancing at her again. "When we talked about it… you assumed I did. You asked if I had always known I could go both ways, but I don't think I ever expressed interest in men."

"Oh..." She hadn't wanted to push anything on her, and now felt somewhat guilty having presumed as much. "I… I only said that because of how you mentioned you were surprised by the way you… were…attracted to me," she answered carefully.

The faunus gave a small sigh, staring at her contemplatively. "Well, I really  _was_  surprised, that wasn't a lie," she allowed. "Never before had I thought about women in that way after all. It's just that… recently, as I took the time to  _really_  think about it, I realized I never thought about men that way either."

Yang blinked rapidly a couple of times as what she explained sank in. "Really? You hadn't realized at all you weren't attracted to guys? How did you  _not_  realize?" Hearing her own questions as they poured out, compelled her to justify them. "I mean, everyone else must've gotten interested in romance around you. That never got you thinking?"

Blake shrugged lightly. "I just… I guess I just… thought I was just picky. And that I'd fall in love eventually, and… I went through the motions without really thinking about it. I presumed that, in time, I'd find the right guy and settle down, because… simply because that's how life goes. I'd never pause to think beyond 'that's how it goes'," she cautiously explained. "It was only when I realized just  _how_  I was looking at you that I had to re-examine why I had never seemed to care about love, sex, relationships. It made me understand that I  _did_  care, I  _did_  have some interest… it simply was that mine didn't lay where it conventionally does."

Yang hummed pensively. She didn't want to make it seem like she was questioning what her partner affirmed, but curiosity nagged at her. "If you don't mind, I'm just… wondering. You hadn't realized sooner, so you didn't have any interest in other women before either, right? So, I mean, because you have the hots for me right now doesn't entirely rule out guys, does it?"

"Are you suggesting I  _am_  simply very picky?"

Yang grinned teasingly. "What, because you're saying you're not?"

Blake shook her head. "No, maybe I am too, but it's definitely not just that," she stated. "Thinking it through… I…" she paused, and Yang could swear she saw her cheeks take a more pinkish tint. "…Thinking it through, I…I came to realize that I don't believe a male body could ever… arouse me," she admitted. "Or that I could  _ever_  want things… like what I find myself wanting…" She trailed off, and her voice wavering prompted the blonde to notice how Blake's eyes glimmered with that unmistakable burn. The golden orbs slid from Yang's features to her body in her arms. "The things I desire out of… you," she carefully said, "…these things, I find repulsive to imagine with men."

As she'd said this, her golden eyes had fallen on her thighs and it was very subtle, but Yang didn't miss it as Blake licked her lips. Where the faunus's mind was wandering was plainly obvious, and Yang felt an invigorating jolt go through her body. She couldn't help being reminded how often her partner had expressed the desire to go down on her or how much it evidently turned her on to do so.

Knowing their teammates could be back any moment and falling prey to their desires wasn't a option, Yang opted to do her best not to linger the ambiance that was setting in, deciding to promptly hurry the conversation along with a decidedly unsexy question. "…So your problem is, like, their junk?"

Her features broke into a smile and Blake seemed to brush off the mood that explaining this was putting her in. "It's everything, Yang. Yes, there's that, but it's also… the shape of the body, its hairiness, the difference in smells, the…" she then paused, shuddering a bit. "I don't like the thought of being handled by a man, or the idea of …bodily fluids either…"

" _Bodily fluids_ ," she repeated, laughing. The way her partner had said it was too amusing, she couldn't help it.

"Well… yes," Blake still acquiesced in all seriousness. "While on the contrary, the thought of all this about women, I'm okay with."

The blonde blinked quickly a few times, confused. Blake hadn't seemed simply 'okay' with getting physical, she'd seemed  _quite_  enthusiastic. "Just  _okay_?" She underlined, surprised.

"I meant 'okay' if broadly speaking, about women in general," she clarified, again catching onto the implied question. "But I'm attracted to you, so with  _you_ , I… of course, things like that actively turn me on," she quietly said. The tone of her voice laced itself anew with longing as she continued. "And moreover, even things I'd otherwise consider…vulgar, filthy,  _perverse_ …" she trailed off, swallowing difficulty before she exhaled a strained breath, "…somehow will turn me on when it comes to you…" she finished.

Blake's train of thought was manifestly getting extremely sidetracked, and being still settled between her legs, Yang found herself so very aware of how, even through her shorts, she could feel that distinct spot grow hotter. The blonde leaned back in, laying her head on her chest and bringing their bodies together again in a hug. In a seemingly instinctive response, she felt a very faint thrust of Blake's hips against the side of her waist, and this almost imperceptible movement which might in truth have been nothing more than Blake readjusting herself, was all it took to unquestionably spark her own desires to life. She tightened her embrace a little, Blake's trembling fingers followed down her spine, and Yang exhaled heavily.

"Explaining all this is making you think dirty thoughts?" she asked, knowing very well she shouldn't follow that train of thought.

"Why are you asking this?" Blake quietly questioned back.

"…'Cause you're definitely turned on right now," Yang observed, her fingers trailing on her ribs.

"Can't hide anything from you, can I?" She shakily breathed.

"I'm between your legs, so no, you can't hide this," Yang pressed closer, and again, she felt this faint motion of her hips, of her partner grinding lightly against her. Her body flared up even more, so much hotter, completely awake, and she itched to caress her. "…Maybe I could do something about it…?"

The faunus promptly shook her head. "No, Weiss and Ruby will be back very soon," she said. "There's only half an hour or so left for the school curfew."

"Yeah, you're right…" the blonde sighed. But she still felt utterly intoxicated with her. She was lightheaded, eyelids heavy, her skin was ridiculously sensitive. She moved one of the arms she had around her to slide it down her body, from her waist down to caress her hip, realizing she was  _craving_  for her to press her sex closer again. "I gotta say, I love when you… do that," she commented. "It's really sexy."

Blake gave a very faint hum, thrusting gently against her for the third time. "You mean that…?"

" _Exactly_  that," she breathed, her hand sliding from her hip to her rear, forcing her to press closer and earning herself a quiet gasp from her partner.

"Don't," she warned, her voice had grown hoarse.

"Right, we shouldn't," she agreed, yet the knowledge that Blake was undeniably getting some pleasure from this was the only thing occupying her entire being. "It's really risky," Yang added, as if trying to convince herself. But she wasn't really trying to, because in truth, she found herself rationalizing that if they stayed fully clothed, it wouldn't look too obvious were their teammates to walk in on them. Moreover, with her head still lying on the other woman's chest, she noticed how the pounding of her heart had undeniably grown heavier, how her breathing was also clearly deeper. How Blake unquestionably wanted her.

Her mind had already fogged up and before she knew what she was doing, Yang's hand gripping her ass encouraged the motion of her hip. To her surprise, Blake readily obeyed, thrusting faintly with each impulse the blonde incited. Both of the faunus's arms wrapped themselves around her, one hugging her head to her breast, massaging her scalp and tangling her blonde locks, the other pulling her body closer, finding curves though her garments. Yang shivered with lust, shutting her eyes tightly, struggling to repress her urge to touch her, to rip her clothes off her. The steady rhythm at which Blake now rocked her hips picked up, as she had clearly abandoned the idea of trying to fight this, fully grinding against her. Yang buried her face in her chest, feeling her own breathing start to get labored and, in response, the dark haired faunus curled around her, purring. Blake kissed the top of her head as she hugged it to her heart.

Her trapped breath as Yang exhaled heavily burned the fabric she pressed her face in and, though she was struggling for air, she just pressed closer. Blake leaned her cheek against the blonde head of hair and as she writhed under her, a quiet, vacillating moan escaped her. Yang's grip on her ass immediately grew fiercer, pulling their bodies closer.

The sound of Blake's voice tainted with lust had brought back that shiver-inducing echo of how she'd whispered her name the morning prior, and Yang wanted to—no,  _needed_ to hear it again. Once more, the notion gripped her that if Blake could own up to her feelings, it may finally settle her own heart.

"…Blake," Yang murmured, her voice mostly muffled in her clothes, in her chest, hoping the other woman would somehow know what she wanted without her asking.

Panting the way she was, her breath warmed the top of her head. "Hmm?"

She didn't want to ask. Voicing this request made her uncomfortable considering how, last time, this had brought Blake to nearly confess and subsequently almost shut down.

"Nothing," Yang lied. "I just… I love saying your name." This second part, at least, wasn't a lie.

In response, Blake exhaled what was almost a chuckle. "…I …" she had to pause, groaning lightly, "…I love when you say it…"

Yang slowly caressed her ass, encouraging even more her grinding, completely exhilarated with the way Blake's thighs were parting helplessly as she rubbed against her body, as her thrust got more and more heated. "Fuck, I want you, Blake," she whispered.

This seemed to send her reeling, as the motion of her hips came a little more erratically, unquestionably more forceful, making it obvious that she was getting very close. Yang, in turn, pressed her body against her, clutching her with more strength than she may have intended to. Blake's fingers dug in her flesh, returning her embrace as fiercely. The next moment she was slowing down. Her legs were quivering, twitching, and Blake exhaled a long, relieved sigh. Her arms around her head, around her body relaxed, and Yang separated just enough to glance up at her.

What irradiated from Blake, such blissfulness and comfort, seemed to seep into the blonde; a unique kind of soothing, so, so tender warmth was overtaking her. Yang felt again like she should ask her. Any one of those questions that would prompt the talk they should have had weeks ago would do.  _'What am I to you, Blake? What do you want this to be? ...What were you about to say, yesterday morning? …That you love me? …You do love me, right…?'_

As this last question crossed her mind, Yang realized… she  _wanted_  Blake to tell her she loved her.

Maybe it was her current arousal that helped alleviate her inhibitions, but, in that moment, Yang understood fully that if she wanted Blake to say it, it wasn't because of the ever-present weight it brought, nor because they needed to move forward at some point, and not even because Blake herself needed to say it. It simply was that… she wanted to hear those words from her. It was her own selfish desire to hear them. Because she wanted them.

"They could've come back any moment," Blake whispered, her eyes still closed.

Brusquely pulled back to reality, it took her a second to replace the situation. "Y-yeah, I know..." Yang shakily answered. She couldn't get rid of the train of thought that had been set in motion. "We're still dressed, Ruby would probably have thought we were wrestling or something," she reasoned.

"But not Weiss," the faunus countered lazily.

"We're still clothed. At worse, it would've looked to her that she and Ruby interrupted a make-out session and nothing more, right? No big deal," she shrugged. "There's no way for her to tell anything else had been going on," Yang moved up enough to press her lips to hers, and Blake cupped her face with both hands, indulging in a very tender but invested kiss.

Though she adored when her partner kissed her this way, the blonde however couldn't restrain the raw hunger their activities had roused, even more so since embers of it had been lingering in her since Ruby had interrupted them the morning prior. As she answered her kiss, Yang unbuttoned her tan blazer and guided Blake's hand inside it.

The faunus squeezed one of her breasts, her thumb rolled over the erect nipple that poked through the fabric. "...We'll get caught," she mumbled against her lips.

"You still grinded against me until you came," Yang reminded her.

Blake gently kissed her again. "In the heat of the moment... I'm not sure if I forgot or I stopped caring, but I just couldn't stop myself," she admitted.

Though she pertinently knew they didn't have much time, her desires haunted her, and she felt unable to let go. Swiftly coming aware that there could be a compromise, that she could still quickly get some relief… it was very hard to convince herself that it might not be a good idea. In fact, the clouded reasoning of her fogged-up mind was failing her, and she couldn't for the life of her find a reason not to. After all, though it indeed was still risky, she wouldn't need more than a few minutes to relieve herself.

Yang's hand dropped between her own legs, as she slouched over the other woman, resting her head on her chest once more. She tentatively touched through the black fabric of her shorts, wondering if some dampness had soaked through, before her hand snaked its way underneath them, into her underwear. With how steamy, how positively electrifying she'd found it for Blake to grind against her, she had certainly expected to find herself in such an advanced state of arousal, and, as she gently glided her fingers against herself, her drenched underwear stuck to the back of her hand. The blonde found her swollen nub and she hummed contently, faintly rocking her hips as she closed her eyes. Blake seemed to hold her breath under her.

"...Yang, are you...?"

Dexterously working herself, she let out a guilty-but-not-sorry chuckle, snuggling into her chest. "Does it bother you?" Her voice was unsteady, all her senses were going in overdrive; the heat and curves of Blake's body, the scent of her, the soft touch of her fingers on her cheek, all of it was entrancing.

"No, of course not," she mouthed, delicately combing her bangs away from her face to see her features. "But are  _you_  okay settling with this...?"

"Yeah… It's faster if I do it," she whispered back. "…Why?"

"You said before that it didn't feel as good as when we're having sex," Blake offered. As she talked, her hand had found its way into her blazer again to fondle her chest.

She hummed, pressing into her touch. Her body tensed lightly, and Yang rubbed herself a little faster in a circular motion. "I wasn't lying..." she managed, exhaling wavering breaths. "…Doing this… is nowhere near as intense when it's you who makes me cum... it's just faster" she admitted, failing at biting back a moan. "...A quick fix until next time."

The sounds she couldn't hold back evidently enlivened her partner anew; her body felt hotter, her thighs twitched on each side of Yang's waist, pressing against her. Her hand still on her breast massaged assertively, her other hand was busy combing the blonde hair, and Yang was suddenly overtaken with the certitude that Blake was doing everything in her power not to flip them around and make her say her name once more. It distinctly felt like Blake was trying to busy herself so she wouldn't jump her, and feeling so desired sent shivers all over the blonde's body. She leaned up slightly; Blake understood her shift and claimed her lips. The faunus poured everything she had in her kiss; her passion, her lust… but also the ache of her longing, and Yang felt like she was engulfed in her.

Alas, her panting very quickly became too heavy and forced her to release her lips again. She pressed her face in her partner's chest, rocking her hips more heatedly as she felt the tension start building in her body. She felt Blake exhale a barely controlled, shaky sigh, one hand straying on her hip down her ass. Yang could  _feel_  her gaze, and she found herself smiling. "...You watching...Blake…?"

"Mm-hmm," she acquiesced. "Though I can't see what I wish I could," she admitted in a breath.

The fantasy of spreading her legs and allowing Blake to watch her touch herself overwhelmed her with an upsurge of lust, and Yang moaned, fingering herself faster. The faunus tightened her embrace in return, cradling her closer, and Yang willingly drowned in her arms. "I'll… I'll show you properly... someday," she managed, rubbing her cheek against her breast.

Blake caressed her face, inciting her to snuggle against her chest more. "Voyeur  _and_  exhibitionist?" She commented. "Well, the latter part doesn't surprise me, with how much skin your choice of clothes tend to show..."

The brawler somehow managed a laugh; she knew this wasn't meant as criticism because she'd caught the other woman ogling her more times that she could count. "You love it."

Her answer was breathed out, saturated with desire. "...I do..."

On impulse, Yang's mind altered this last exchange. She heard herself say ' _You love me_ ,' and Blake subsequently answering the same ' _I do_ '. The blonde moaned feverishly, her desire spiking, abruptly leaping close to the edge, so close to her climax.

Even through the haziness of her unfocused thoughts, she still realized that what she was fantasizing about had just crossed a line. She nevertheless was powerless to stop herself and she nestled closer into her embrace, overtaken by that euphoric feeling, her mind going blank. Her beautiful partner's name rolled off her tongue and Blake's fierce embrace somehow became even needier.

Intaking deep breaths, her eyes fluttered open the moment her body started to relax. Blake's arms around her tenderly cradled her, and before she could grasp what feelings invaded her, a distinct, unparalleled  _certitude_  crashed down on her to obliterate any other thoughts. She was  _madly_  in love with Blake. She knew this with unprecedented clarity, as if a veil was suddenly lifted from her eyes.

It was so, so obvious, she couldn't comprehend how she'd even been able to run from that fact, to blind herself to it for so long. How hadn't it been absolutely transparent to her since day one? How could she ever have considered this might be nothing but a crush, infatuation, or simple fancy? The magnitude of what filled her when it came to her partner could  _clearly_  only be described as Love with a capital L. The real thing. The kind people want to believe in, but can only hope exist, the kind everyone dreams of but that most are never able to find in their lifetimes. The kind worth dying for.

She was so completely blown away by how everything just seemed to click at once, Yang was completely immobile, staring out in the emptiness. She would unquestionably would give her life for Blake. And this was why no one ever seemed to matter outside of Blake. And this was also why she'd been so jealous at the thought that Blake could want to look elsewhere.

She felt unbelievably dense, so foolish.

How could she have time and time again been absolutely  _mesmerized_  with her, with her eyes, with her smile, and still managed to keep herself in the haze? How could she have time and time again succumbed to desire like she'd never experienced before, eager to vanish in her arms, prepared to abandon even her sense of self, to forget her own name at the mercy of her, without grasping why her yearning was so profound? How could she have reveled in everything,  _everything_  about her, the smell of her body, of her hair, the taste of her tongue, of her sweat, of her sex, the featherlike touch of her fingers or the fierce, skin-ripping clutch of them digging in her flesh, the sound of her voice, the groaning and purring, without recognizing where her adoration stemmed from?

Blake's voice tore her from her sudden enlightenment. "You're right, that was really fast," she commented, amused.

She raised her gaze to her, dumfounded. Coming aware of this, she seemed to be seeing her in a whole new light, and all she could do was stare, speechless.

"You'll need to teach me what you did," Blake added. "I'd love to be able to get you off so fast."

Yang only gawked at her in awe, baffled with her realization.

"Yang?"

"Wha-…what?"

Her faunus partner stared down at her, studying her features. "What's wrong?"

She broke eye contact, discomfited. "Nothing's wrong," she managed, fumbling to readjust her position in her arms and straighten out her clothes somewhat.

"Did you just wipe your fingers on my bed?"

The blonde realized she indeed had; she'd done it without thinking, but she'd done it alright. Her gaze snapped back up to the beautiful golden. "...Sorry, did you mind? I didn't realize I'd-"

"If I mind?" She repeated in a scoff. "Of course I don't. It wasn't why…" she trailed off, her eyes somewhere on her bedsheets or on Yang's hand.

This helped Yang to shake off her dazed behavior before it looked suspicious to the other woman; she willed herself to push past the shock to put up a playful front. "... _Oh_ ," she exclaimed, inciting Blake to release her so she could sit properly, "was there something else you would've preferred?" She teased, allowing a frisky grin stretch her features. "Kitten wanted a little lick maybe?"

Blake pursed her lips, her cheeks adorably pink. "…It's too late now."

"Too late?" Yang repeated. It was a quick slip of her hand beneath her shorts and she extended her fingers to her. "They're dirty again, oops."

She didn't stare long at the brawler's hand before she took it and wrapped her lips around her index and middle finger. The faunus closed her eyes and sucked languidly, her tongue caressing her fingers. Yang held her breath.

When Blake slowly pulled the brawler's fingers out of her mouth, her gaze locked itself with the amethyst color, and she shakily breathed out. "You fiend, why do you do this to me?"

Yang was stunned by the intensity of her stare and could do nothing but sit completely still.

Blake moved closer; she gently grabbed both her wrists and slowly made her lie on her back, advancing over her. "Don't you know how I want to ravage you…?" she murmured, lying on top of her. "Don't you know giving me a small taste is worse than none at all?"

As their bodies came together once more, Yang marveled at how, now that she had a full understanding of the nature of her feelings, sharing this intimacy was such an entirely different experience. She wondered if she could ever enjoy the fit of another body against hers the way she did with her partner's svelte and weightless build. If anything in the world could parallel the silkiness of the locks of jet-black hair gliding against her own skin, or the lusciousness of her soft lips as they found hers, as they parted, or the goose bumps induced by the way her slender, delicate fingers trailed from her wrist up her arm, or so tenderly on her cheek. Yang wondered if anything else would ever enflame her desires the way Blake's long legs sliding against her own and the faint, but oh-so-suggestive rocking of her hips did. With shuddering breaths, Yang was forced to acknowledge she couldn't recall anything as enthralling, as intoxicating as her scent, or anything as alluring, as hypnotizing, as  _sensual_  as the way she moved, the way she pressed her body to hers.

And God… there was no wondering if she could miss anything more than her kiss, now that Blake had unfortunately pulled back. She'd forever yearn for it, every second of every day. Yang's eyelids felt heavy, but she still willed her eyes open. She shakily reached to cup her cheek in her hand, and Blake leaned into her caress.

The light touch of Blake's fingers, tracing her skin on her arm or exploring her body in a gentle massage made her very aware of how much her partner yearned to touch her, how Blake was trying very hard not to escalate this again. Yang had to remind herself that their teammates truly could come back any moment and that they had already been very lucky to have gotten away with what they had. "…Blake," she breathed out, "we really can't."

"I know," she gave in a strained voice. "I just… I want you so much, I can't think of anything else," she confessed in a whisper.

Her desire to appease her partner overpowered her own lust, and Yang found herself suggesting: "Pretend I'm a guy?"

Blake's lips curled into a smile. "Like I could," she pointed out, moving just enough to tactlessly grope one of her breasts under her.

To which Yang laughed, spurring the faunus to laugh along. Her hand's unsexy fondling quickly died down and Blake instead outlined her breast in a careful caress. The blonde gazed up at her, unable to suppress the very fond smile she knew might very well betray her newfound feelings. She thought to herself that she needed to hurry the moment along, else they might get caught into each other again. Yang opted to naturally follow the notion she'd raised. "Hey… did it bother you I assumed you liked guys too?"

Blake let herself get swept with the distraction, she seemed to be taking a proper hold of herself as she answered. "No, I understand why you did. Even I assumed I did. But in the end… it was all just that. Assumptions," she mused, staring down a her for a second. "Living in a shared room with your outrageously sexy self wrecked those assumptions faster than I'd like to admit."

This brought a grin to the blonde's face. "…So, I let it slide earlier, but I can't pass it up twice. You're saying that  _I'm_  the one who kick-started your hormones, right?" She gloated.

Blake moved off her. "…Don't flatter yourself."

Yang stayed on her back, quite entertained. "I don't need to, you're doing it for me," she argued, trying to suppress the intense feeling of glee this brought her. She then rolled on her side to face her, still beaming cheekily. "Granted, with my hot ass around, you didn't stand a chance."

Golden eyes stared down at her affectionately. "Maybe you made me gay," she answered with a playful smile, going along with the banter.

"Or maybe  _you_  made  _me_ ," she shot back.

"But you're not," Blake gently countered. "You do like both."

"…Yeah," Yang unenthusiastically answered, losing her smile.

She bit back her tongue, wanting to tell her how incredibly irrelevant that sounded to her right now. After all, she had lost any desire to let her gaze wander to other people, men  _or_  women, because somewhere along the line, Blake had become the only one she was drawn to, the only thing that seemed real, the only option that made sense to her. Blake was the only one that could draw her eye and the only one she felt connected to. And it made so much sense now that she understood she was head over heels in love with her.

Blake seemed to pick up on her lack of enthusiasm. "…Unless you… were pretending to be interested in men?"

Yang propped up her elbow on the pillow, leaning her head in her hand. "No, there definitely was attraction, some interest for sure…. It's just…" She paused in hesitation, knowing what she wanted to say would clearly infer. But something deep within her pushed her to continue. "It's irrelevant now."

"…Is it?"

With Blake sitting up, leaning against the headboard of the bed, Yang had to look up to observe her features. "...Because everyone just blends together now, only you stand out anymore," she admitted.

The dark-haired woman didn't look phased at all by this revelation. She gave a low hum. "It's only natural to pay more attention to the person you're sleeping with," Blake rationalized.

"Probably," Yang conceded, though something tugged at her heart. She hated to allow her feelings to be diminished to that. "But, Blake... it's not simply 'more attention _'_ , it's much more than that," she confessed, wishing she could convey how it seemed like everyone else would downright disappear when her partner was around. And as what Blake had said replayed itself in her head, Yang found her stomach tightened with revulsion at how that sentence implied that two people who were simply having baseless sex would look at each other with the same consideration they did.

"It's more than that," Yang repeated with startling conviction, and Blake's eyes found hers again, in apparent surprise. "You're not just a person I'm sleeping with, it's not cheap like that, Blake. You said it before, we're lovers, right?" Yang allowed the word to pass her lips for the first time and found herself savoring the sound of it.

Though she manifestly was stunned, Blake's features had brightened considerably.

Her partner's genuine amazement abruptly made Yang self-conscious. Her gaze flickered to the bed sheets before they fretfully returned to her. "Is it okay? That I… would think like that?"

"Of course," the faunus promptly answered. It looked like she forgot herself for an instant, she blinked several times, shifting her position, and she didn't seem to know what to do with herself. "I just... I..." She shakily tried, smiling, then bringing a hand to her mouth. "Sorry, it made me really happy... but it's... ..." The short breath she exhaled almost sounded like a sob, and her eyes scanned Yang's features with poorly veiled distress. "I... I don't know how or where to draw the line with you," she faintly admitted.

A deep surge of warmth overcame Yang, and along with it the inexorable  _need_ to appease the ache irradiating from her gorgeous partner. In this instant, she felt ready to do anything, absolutely  _anything_ , give up anything she could have wanted, anything she had, or was, give herself up entirely if it could soothe her lover's longing even just in the slightest. And with the firm grasp she had now on what it was exactly that she felt, Yang felt a fierce impulse to share it with her, to scream it, to let everyone know. Her heart rate skyrocketed again, and she sat up.

"Blake," she earnestly called. "I know I haven't exactly been easy to deal with," she acknowledged but as quickly as her decisiveness had ignited inside of her, what she wanted to say was also getting muddled and unintelligible. "And I'm really, really sorry for that. And…. I'm also sorry I hurt you, because I  _know_  I did…hurt you."

A questioning frown slowly took over her perfect features and Blake's gaze was fixed on hers.

"I just… uh…"

The words caught in her throat. The blonde couldn't remember a time she ever felt so nervous.  _How_  was this so hard? Blake loved her too, right? Even if she never  _said_  she did, she… did, right? And Yang was now feeling stupidly vulnerable. Holding her breath, she could do nothing but stare back at the mesmerizing gold.

Blake patiently waited for another minute or so, in vain. With a small sigh, she started moving out of bed. "…It's getting late, Ruby and Weiss will be here anytime," she offered to excuse herself.

Faster than she intended to, she grabbed her partner's arm, keeping her in bed with her. "Wait, just…j-just wait a second okay?" She stammered.

Now some form of tension tainted the dark-haired woman's features; Yang knew she was an open book, and if Blake had deliberately ignored her disquiet up until now, this nervousness was starting to make  _her_  nervous too. "…What is it, Yang? Is something wrong?"

"No, no, nothing's wrong…" she shakily said, pulling her in. Embracing her felt so strangely  _better_ now that her feelings were clear. Was this how Blake had been feeling, holding her…?

How about… making love to her…? The thought provoked violent thumping of her heart and along with it, a flash of warmth. Yang pressed her face to her neck, exhaling a shivering breath. Her quivering hands still clutched her closer. "I just… don't want to let go."

"Me neither," Blake answered. Her hand at the back of her partner's head tenderly went through blonde locks. "However, it'd be best to."

"I know, I know," she groaned, trying to settle the impetuous hurricane of thoughts and emotions raging within her.

That storm only seemed to want to wreck her judgment, irrationally scaring her into fearing the insignificant chance that she had completely misread Blake's prudence with the situation. It hurled her fears into a downward spiral in which she was so sickeningly aware of what it would mean to  _need_  another person. What it would mean to allow herself to be vulnerable. But it wasn't like she couldn't trust Blake, right? On the contrary, if there was  _anyone_  she might  _ever_  feel she'd be able to lean on, depend on… it would be Blake. So why was owning up to all of it, saying it out loud so sickeningly frightening? Was it because if she  _said_  it, it made it more… real? Or because saying it would mean… committing? Committing came with expectations, right? Not that she was scared of such expectation, of living up to them! The issue was… could she allow herself to have them too…? Could she allow herself to expect someone else to comfort, nurture, care for her through thick and thin? The simple idea of allowing herself those expectations out of  _anyone_  was downright terrifying. Because after all… she'd… always been let down in that area, hadn't she? And why would anything be any different now?

Her hands curled into fists, loosely gripping at the black fabric on Blake's back. "Blake, I just…" Yang's voiced died in her throat and she could only find herself nervously trying to think up a way to stall, to keep her partner in her arms just a bit longer, hoping that the next moment would have her find the nerve to confess despite all her instincts screaming to protect herself. "Please, let me just… hold you until we absolutely  _have_  to let go. Okay?"

"You like me this much, Yang?" She playfully teased.

"…You have no idea," she found herself whispering.

She felt her partner become incredibly still, to the point Yang wondered if she even breathed. The blonde's heart picked up pace again, and for the third time, she thought it was time; she was compelled to come clean. Three words. Three stupid words.  _I love you_. How hard was it? Yet in this silence, it felt like she was sinking, drowning. And then Blake started breathing again, and time was resumed, and the faunus shifted to be able to present her a questioning gaze.

Yang parted her lips, finding herself exhaling a short, shivering breath instead of the words she wanted to say. The way Blake now stared back at her, anxious, full of anticipation, had Yang wonder if that had been how she had herself been looking at Blake the morning prior, when she realized she'd expected her to confess. What exactly was it that Blake could see in her eyes in this moment…? Did she understand what words Yang couldn't seem to force past her lips?

As the silence stretched still, whatever she saw compelled Blake to close in to capture her lips once more, kissing her so, so tenderly. Her arms slowly unraveled from around her shoulders, her fingers trailing on her neck and on her jaw, savoring the kiss lengthily before drawing back less than an inch. Blake leaned her forehead to hers, holding her breath nervously. "We can't go on this way, Yang, we…  _have_  to talk about this," she mouthed.

"I know, we're well overdue," the blonde agreed. She felt the faunus draw back further and Yang felt her own expression contort a little pitifully. "I'm…  _really_  trying right now, you know?"

To which Blake had a faint, surprisingly tender smile. "I got that," she quietly allowed. And suddenly, sharp focus took over her features and her cat ears stiffened under her bow, making it look tauter. "…They're here, down the hall," Blake stated as she got up.

Yang mentally kicked herself. If only she'd gathered her nerves enough a few minutes prior. If only she wasn't this ridiculously averse to allowing herself to be vulnerable. She watched as Blake straightened out her clothes and glanced back at her, offering her a fond smile.

The blonde had the very clear impression they both understood what had been left unsaid, what they both didn't find the courage to say right in this moment. It alleviated her heart that her partner seemed to be feeling better with this and, as she got off the faunus's bed, she still briefly considered just blurting what she had to say. She however thought to herself that it wouldn't be fair. They needed to take a moment and do this properly; she'd made Blake wait over a month now, and with their mutual understanding, it surely could wait until tomorrow or the day after.

- **tbc**


	7. Chapter 7

Backstage, Yang was stretching. Doubles were already well underway, and their match was set to be against a team from Atlas. Up next was Penny's fight, and Ruby had left the three of them backstage, so she could get a good seat for the showdown.

The blonde cuffed Ember Celica to her wrists and turned to her other two teammates; Blake and Weiss were sitting a little further in the waiting area in what almost resembled a dining booth, comprising two semicircle cushioned seats and a round table. The two of them were quite absorbed in their inspection of the heiress' dust cartridges and, with no intention of disturbing them, Yang sat back to quietly observe her faunus partner.

If her gaze had repeatedly been drawn to Blake before…  _now,_  trying to keep herself in check was downright hopeless. She was still awestruck with her illumination of the evening prior and just how much  _better_  everything was ever since she was clear on her feelings. Her attention strayed from the dark-haired woman's svelte silhouette to her delicate fingers, witnessing how she fastidiously handled the dust cartridges, and her gaze then wandered back up to her features, to her focused expression; Yang's heart fluttered. She felt stupidly giddy just watching her. The fact that they were virtually always together didn't help appeasing her longing for the other woman, and in this instant, she was  _still_  overcome by the urge to talk to her, touch her hand, be closer to her…  _anything_.

Yang hopped up and trotted to sit with her two teammates. Blake scooted over to give her some room to sit with her; the blonde still slid in exceedingly close in spite of the extra allotted space.

Pale blue orbs darted up from their work to study them a second before returning to her business. "You decided to do things properly for once and double check your ammunition?" Weiss commented.

"Yeah," Yang shrugged, leaning closer to her partner. "I know you won't let me hear the end of it if anything happened."

Weiss looked up to her again and narrowed her eyes, though she did bite back her retort. She watched for a minute as the blonde checked her own fire dust cartridges and loaded them one by one before she resumed what she was doing herself. Under the table, Yang touched her thigh to her partner's and out of the corner of her eye she could see Blake smiling faintly. An insistent grin plastered on her own features, she tried concentrating on what she was doing.

The buzzing in the loudspeakers somewhere in the background let them know that Penny's team had won their match in  _record_  time.

The three of them kept working in silence until the faunus's scroll lit up. The message from Ruby read: 'Sun is up next, I kept you a seat!'

Her gorgeous golden eyes slid to Yang, then flickered to their teammate. "Will you two be alright, doing this by yourselves?"

"Yeah," the blonde nodded, despite how much she'd rather have her stay. "If you don't watch his match, he'll be heartbroken," she still grinned.

Rolling her eyes, Blake still excused herself. As she walked away, it was beyond Yang's power to restrain her stare as it inevitably followed her; her long, silky hair flowed behind her, and each step made her hips sway in a downright hypnotizing manner.

"How did I ever miss that?" Weiss's voice tugged at her attention.

"Hmm?" It was almost painful to detach her eyes from her dark-haired partner, and they drifted to her again just about instantly.

"You're not even  _trying_  to hide it, and yet I  _completely_  missed it," she mouthed in disbelief.

"What?" The blonde dazedly questioned back.

"The way you look at her," Weiss specified.

This finally snapped her back to reality, and, eyebrows raised in surprise, Yang turned to her teammate. She never thought Weiss would address her with this… but then again, their friend had also been the one broaching the topic with Blake. The blonde sunk in her seat almost imperceptibly. "…I  _am_  actually trying to be discreet, you know," she offered.

Her tone was impressively unconvinced. "You are?"

" _Trying_  being the key word here," she nonchalantly clarified, loading another fire dust shell. If she  _hadn't_  been trying, Blake probably wouldn't have had any semblance of personal space. Yang paused for a second and glanced to the small heiress. Blake had mentioned they talked, but the brawler had no idea how much their mutual friend actually knew. With curiosity rapidly getting the better of her, she stopped what she was doing; her stillness drew Weiss's gaze once more. "…What did she tell you?"

The snow haired lady resumed examining her ammo. "What she hasn't told you herself isn't mine to tell, Yang," she curtly offered.

Being shot down so frankly made her a tad uncomfortable. "…Right, I understand."

Weiss apparently didn't mean to be so guarded because her demeanor at once eased with something resembling sympathy. She gave a quiet sigh as her eyes found the amethyst ones again. It looked to Yang like her snow-haired friend now remembered there was a reason she broached this topic at all, and she stopped what she was doing once more, staring at her only briefly before she opened her mouth. "She has related the… status of your relationship."

"…And what does that mean?"

"I mean I know that you two are…" She hesitated on what wording to use, "…intimate."

The brawler had known her teammate knew at least this much, and she  _did_  remember Blake telling her it hadn't seemed like an issue. However, she still felt compelled to ask. "Is it a problem?"

Her cheeks had taken a slightly pink color and Weiss cleared her throat uncomfortably. "It's…different," she stated, her stare fixated on her ammunition. "But not a problem."

This awkwardness didn't go unnoticed. Yang frowned, attempting to meet her eyes. "Weiss? Are you  _sure_?"

She quickly realized how unconvincing her answer had been; Weiss locked onto the fretful amethyst. "Certain," she affirmed, and, though the blonde had always found the iciness of her gaze to be hard to read, there was no doubting the honesty of her answer. Weiss exhaled shortly. "I know I've shown myself to be…" she paused, looking for the right word, "… _prejudiced_  in the past," she admitted. With this acknowledgment, she leaned back in her seat, still observing the blonde. "…But that's in the past. And. Even beyond all that…  _this_ … it's an entirely different matter than racism. I can relate. In an odd sort of way."

She stared back blankly. "…Huh?" Yang couldn't seem to understand in what way one would be able to empathize other than…  _also_  experiencing same-sex attraction. "You do? How?"

Giving another sigh and crossing her arms, Weiss watched her for a moment, apparently debating whether she wanted to explain. Ultimately, she let her eyes drop to the until-then forgotten dust cartridges on the table. "My parents got married for corporate benefits," she started. "An alliance for wealth, social networking. They were calculated motives; a game of chess. And all it got them is a miserable and cold marriage. They hate each other," she recounted.

Unsure where she was going with this, the brawler still silently listened. It wasn't every day that the snow-haired heiress talked about her family, and Yang would be damned if she said anything that would discourage her from confiding in her,  _especially_  if Weiss deemed that opening up was relevant to the situation at hand.

With both hands on the table, she laced her fingers together. "I've always thought to myself that… I wasn't going to choose who I built a life with based on anything else than my own terms," she said, looking back up to her. "…I always resolved that when I choose someone… it won't matter what my parents think, it won't matter what  _anyone_  else thinks. My significant other is  _my_  choice and  _mine_  alone." As she explained this, Weiss's surprisingly open attitude towards their unconventional relationship swiftly fell into place. Still, her white-haired teammate continued, a faint smile gracing her lips. "It'd be very hypocritical of me to have any sort of issue with your mutual attraction when what I have decided for myself is somewhat relevant to what you two would experience."

"Maybe," Yang agreed, "but not everyone would've made the effort to see there's a parallel. That you are willing to… is pretty graceful of you," she offered with a small smile, truly grateful that their friend chose to see it this way.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere," she warned. "…I  _am_  going to take issue with you two if it affects our team's cohesion."

"Fair enough," the blonde conceded, her smile growing to an amused grin. This footnote was so Weiss-like. "Sorry I doubted you."

"I won't hold it against you," she answered just a little haughtily. "I understand why you had some apprehensions."

Yang just kept staring at her, smiling. Weiss pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, a small blush emerging on her cheeks, and she resumed loading dust cartridges in Myrtenaster.

The violet orbs then wandered to the general direction in which her dark-haired partner had disappeared. There was no sign of her reappearing any time soon, and Yang checked her scroll for the time. Still about half an hour before her own pair was scheduled to fight—if there was no delay in schedule, that was.

After sending Blake a message to come back and wish her luck in person when Sun's match was done, she locked her device and put it away. She found herself interested in her teammate again; Weiss was more meticulous that anyone she'd known, and with such an array of different dust mixes, she probably  _had_  to be.

Yang poked a fire dust cartridge on the table. "…So…" She cleared her throat, making brief eye contact with Weiss as she glanced up at her from her work. "I…uh… Blake and I have been struggling to find some… 'private time'. Could you… keep Ruby away from our room for a couple of hours after this match?"

This evidently ticked her off. " _Really_?"

"Come on,  _please,_ " she begged. "I'll owe you! What do you want?"

"Some sort of guarantee that this isn't going to end in a train wreck," Weiss angrily shot.

Taken aback, Yang blinked quickly in confusion. "What?"

She put her sword away; her gaze had hardened into that displeased, piercing, so very  _cold_  one only she was capable of. "Are you and Blake dating?"

The blonde found herself a discomfited mix of conflicting emotions. First, that unexpected, chills-inducing glare she was being given was rattling. Second… the general idea of  _officially_  being involved with Blake gripped her to her core. It made her absurdly giddy and also exceedingly aware of all that her faunus partner made her feel. Her voice was just a little wavering as she questioned back, "…Did she say we were?"

"No," Weiss spat somewhat harshly. "What she said is that you're using her for sex."

"But I'm not—" Yang abruptly stopped as her brain registered what Weiss had said. She knew Blake could be snarky and cynical, but the thought that her partner may genuinely feel this way horrified her. Then again, the snow haired heiress had shown herself to be immoderately sarcastic and somewhat dramatic at times, and Yang found herself confused as to whether this was nothing but Weiss's interpretation or Blake's legitimate words. She realized apprehension had her stop breathing. "…Did she say that?" She sounded more distressed than she'd expected.

Weiss's expression softened, evidently not unsympathetic to the blonde's fears. "She knows you're not  _using_  her, Yang. She didn't mean it," she offered, attempting to alleviate the shock of her previous remark. "She knows you care about her."

While her teammate had tried to offer her some comfort, understanding that these had truly been Blake's words only troubled her more. "…Weiss, she  _said_  I was using her?"

"Do you love her?" She interjected, completely ignoring her question.

Her heart was abruptly beating so hard it resonated through her entire body, making it seem like even her  _skin_  was pulsing. "…Why are you asking?"

"Do you, or don't you?" Weiss pressed, somewhat vexed.

With violet unable to sustain the severity of the icy blue boring into her, Yang found herself staring at her curled fists resting on her thighs. Why did being confronted with this make her feel so unbelievably helpless?

Though it was nothing compared to just  _thinking_  of confessing to her partner—that was just  _terrifying_.

Yang willed herself to swallow some of her distress. After all, if she couldn't find it in herself to tell Weiss, how did she expect to  _ever_  find the courage to tell Blake? She somehow steeled herself for the few seconds of courage she needed to meet her friend's gaze once more and answer her.

"I do," Yang acknowledged, feeling a newfound confidence flood her as soon as she spoke. "I… I love her," she stated, a liberating weightlessness washing over her. Admitting it out loud felt like it solidified the concept; at once, it seemed her feelings were massively clear and incredibly simple to understand.

"Then why do you let her think something so awful for even just a  _second_?!" Weiss exclaimed, slamming both palms on the table as she stood. "I expected better from you! You're not usually this inconsiderate!"

"I… I just, I didn't truly understand I did until…like…  _yesterday_ ," Yang defended in flustered distress. "I—I-I never imagined she'd...!" She trailed off despairingly. Her eyes were lost on the scattered ammunition on the table for a second before it snapped back up to meet her friend's and she leaned closer. "I'm  _not_  using her, Weiss!" She asserted.

With a sigh, her white-haired friend plopped down in her seat again. "I know," she half-heartedly gave. "But most importantly,  _she_  knows," Weiss reminded her, taking a moment to breathe, settle down, and gather her thoughts as the blonde waited expectantly. She nevertheless still appeared angry as she continued. "The problem, Yang, is that even if she didn't mean it… she's distressed enough for the thought to have crossed her mind. It crossed her mind, and that's  _appalling_. You should  _never_  have let it get to this."

"If I'd known it was  _this_  bad, I—…" Yang stopped mid-argument. Because, really, what  _would_  have she done? She hadn't been ready.

Four weeks for her world to be turned upside down. Only four weeks to accept this new reality of hers and move forward. Four weeks to assume the reality and shape of her desires  _and_  to understand that beyond it, she was also willing  _and_  ready to commit to a female partner despite the stigma it inferred. Four weeks was already quite an accelerated course. How much faster had she been expected to process this?

And that was without even the entire problem of… handing herself over, handing  _her heart_  over to another person. No one ever stayed, so she never imagined being able to count on anyone but herself. She couldn't seem to reconcile what moving forward into a committed relationship would mean with what anxieties ate her up from the inside at the simple thought of trusting someone so completely.

Yet, was this any reason to subject Blake to such heartache?

"I… I …I just never realized how much I hurt her…"

"So you  _know_  you hurt her," Weiss dryly underlined.

"Of course I do!"

"And you  _still_  let things deteriorate?" She argued. "You have to fix this and  _fast_!"

"I know!" Yang bemoaned, overtly distressed. "I  _wanted_  to tell her! I was  _trying_  to! Right before Ruby and you came back home yesterday!" She admitted. "But I…I lost my nerve. I got really scared, and… I stalled. And then you got there," she miserably explained, seeing her friend's expression go from annoyed to puzzled. "And I  _want_  to fix it, and I  _want_  her to be happy," she added, "…but I'm just… ...it's easier said than done."

"Do you  _honestly_  think she'd reject you?" Weiss skeptically posed.

Feeling put on the spot, she sank back in her seat, her gaze falling on her lap. "I… think that…no," she muttered uncharacteristically timidly. Her fingers found the hem of the veil under her half-skirt, and she fiddled with it absentmindedly. "I mean... As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure that's all she's waiting for," she conceded, and she could sense her friend scrutinizing her, silently bidding her to go on.

Yang's jaw tightened and she grit her teeth, feeling some frustration bubble up at the unnerving stalemate she felt trapped in. "But then I'm alone with her, and it's… I… I'm  _terrified_ ," she explained, looking back up at her friend. "I keep thinking…  _what if?_  What if –I don't think I am– but  _what if_  I'm wrong about how she feels, and I make it weird? Or what if I fuck it up? What if we don't work out and she… ends up leaving because of  _me_?"

As the vision coursed through her, she felt the blood drain from her face, from her extremities. Yang had never retold to her white-haired friend how everyone just kept leaving because of her—Weiss couldn't know how  _real_  that fear was.

"What if I wreck the team?" The blonde then threw, forcing herself to go on. "Ruby would be upset. Not only-… God, what if Ruby thinks I'm disgusting?" She thought out loud, her voice had gotten unsteady now.

Laying out her thought process appeared to have softened her friend, Weiss stared at her with an odd mix of puzzlement and sympathy.

Yang crossed her arms tightly, giving a reluctant, shaky sigh. "I know it's…  _maybe_ … mostly, maybe… irrational. And…most likely everything will be fine. But it's still…" she trailed off, not really knowing how to finish her thought.

Her teammate's pale blue eyes curiously studied her. "I didn't read you as someone who'd worry over all that."

Sharing her doubts and worries had let some anxiousness get to her, and it was with some helpless sort of desperation that she erupted. "This is  _hard_ , Weiss!" the blonde agitatedly argued. " _This_ , it's not something I was ready for or even something I even  _considered_  just a few weeks ago, and I still…. I'm… not totally comfortable with all this. And—and I don't mean… Blake. I mean just a  _real_  relationship. I don't exactly feel ready for—… …" She exhaled shakily; her pervasive fears were starting to get the better of her, and she hoped to get a hold of herself. "It may end up not being a gamble, but it's still frightening how much it  _feels_  like one," she admitted. "I'm…. I  _really_  don't want to lose anyone else I care about! I  _can't_  lose anyone else. And I can't… I just… I can't help but worry about what my dad or Ruby would think or… if… if… _Blake_  wasn't… if she got scared for  _any_  reason… if she finds it hard to be with me, if she…" Yang stopped herself. She didn't even want to envision this. "She said she tends to run when she can't deal."

"…Then maybe you should have thought twice before risking your relationship with her," Weiss remarked.

The blonde threw her hands in the air. "What was I  _supposed_  to do?! Repress everything?!" The memory of that morning at the inn, of how much she wanted her, of how effortlessly and naturally they'd given into each other came to her. "Even if  _somehow,_  I'd managed that, would  _she_  have been better off? You think she'd be fine right now!?"

Her snow haired friend pursed her lips, having no answer to that.

Yang sank back in her seat with a bit of an accusatory glare. "I want to-… I  _will_  fix it, and I… I… I'll tell Ruby too," she offered in an attempt to let her teammate know she was hearing her, that she truly intended to do something about the situation. "…I just…" she paused. Exhaling soundlessly made her realize how, although almost imperceptibly, her lip was quivering. Yang pressed her hand over her face. "…It's so hard because," she paused, dropping her hand down in her lap, "I always did my best to avoid being dependent on anyone. Because if I did, and then if I ever lost them, I… …" she trailed off, her throat was so tight it started to hurt.

"I guess… owning up to the fact that… I… I'm starting to… _really_  be dependent on Blake, that I  _need_  her…" she shakily said, "Nothing's ever scared me that much. Especially if… if I resolve to… really,  _really_  pursue this—pursue  _her_... If I do… entirely give myself to her, and she… for any reason, if she backed down, if the social pressure was too much, if… if… if she realized we weren't working out o-or… really, for  _any_  reason, she turned her back on me, Weiss… " Yang found her voice failed her before she was able to finish her sentence.

An array of distressing,  _raw_  feelings strangled her over the mere speculation of this possibility and she realized she was finding it hard to breathe. Yang absentmindedly grasped at her tan blazer somewhere over her heart as if it'd alleviate the pressure. Her face felt too warm, her fingers too cold, and all her senses were congested and blurred. It was only now that she was so attached, that the risk was  _real_ … that she realized how absolutely  _terrified_  she was of being abandoned again. Her throat hurt, and yet she still managed to push some words through. "…I don't know if I could handle that," she rasped weakly.

Weiss had lost any lingering trace of anger or annoyance she might have still held until then. She appeared to have grasped that this specific issue ran much deeper than what was happening with Blake. She nevertheless didn't seem to know how or where to start to address this, and Weiss opted not to pry. "Yang… I can't even picture a scenario in which she'd turn her back on you," she comfortingly reminded her, ever the voice of reason. "Blake would do anything in her power to avoid hurting you, to  _protect_  you, you know?"

She'd known this deep within herself, yet still somehow had felt nauseatingly concerned. Hearing sensible and reasonable words of support was more alleviating than she imagined it would be; it gave her a little more confidence in what her head had been telling her in spite of the outrageously irrational alarm her heart had been sounding. Yang sucked in her lips embarrassingly, conscientiously smoothing out the folds she'd created on her blazer as she'd clutched it.

Her relief must've been obvious as her friend's serious, concerned disposition lightened. "I have to admit," Weiss started again, "…I can't  _begin_  to imagine how I'd feel were I in your shoes," she graciously acknowledged. "I'm sorry if I was… pushy. I know it's unfair to put pressure on you to resolve this. I'm just worried. The more you drag it out, the more chances you'll  _both_  get hurt… the more chances our team… gets divided."

"I know."

"No one wants that."

"…Yeah," Yang quietly agreed.

There was another silence as the loudspeaker somewhere very far off announced team SSSN's victory. The brawler thought again of her partner. She wanted to see her.

"Lastly," Weiss's voice commanded her attention anew. "For the record," she was back to a scolding tone, "your concern that something like this could  _ever_  make Ruby love you any less is undoubtedly the  _stupidest_  thing I've heard from you. I thought you knew your sister better than that."

The surge of emotion she'd swallowed down seemed to swell in her throat again, though this time not in fear and anguish, and Yang felt choked up. She promptly changed seats to slide in on her friend's side, grabbing her into a tight hug.

A little stiff, the snow haired heiress let herself be squeezed. After a short moment, she awkwardly patted her back with one hand. "Okay," she curtly said, tentatively leaning away from her. She was unsuccessful at her silent request to obtain release. "Yang," Weiss tried more sternly, and the blonde rested her cheek on the white head of hair. Her emotional state was giving way to her growing entertainment at how fidgety and uneasy her friend was getting. "Yang, it's enough now," she protested, but Weiss wasn't fighting her off.

"The stage has been cleared," Blake's voice interjected, trotting back to join up with them. "You'll be up in a few-… …Am I…interrupting?"

"Get this one off me," Weiss demanded. "She can't control herself."

"You just realized this now?" The dark-haired faunus nonchalantly retorted, unmoving.

"Blake!" she balked, extremely betrayed that her contrasting teammate wasn't coming to her rescue. "She's  _smothering_  me!" Weiss declared quite dramatically, finally attempting to shove the blonde off.

Very amused by this point, Yang only tightened her hug; it wasn't much of a challenge to immobilize a tiny thing like Weiss. Blake rolled her eyes.

"Blake!" Weiss called again. "Recover your… your… …gir- your … _partner_  this instant!"

At this, Yang loosened her grip in startled shock to gawk at the friend she'd been holding captive. Weiss, taking advantage of this, promptly stood up and straightened out her clothes to smooth any would-be wrinkles. The blonde was dazed, wondering if the reason her friend had considered the word 'girlfriend' was simply to attempt to shock her and take advantage of this to free herself. Whatever had been the case, though she'd either reconsidered or caught herself to settle on conservatively calling Blake her partner, even if Weiss hadn't  _said_  it, it had worked. The concept that their friend clearly had considered calling Blake her girlfriend had her startlingly gleeful. Maybe she  _was_  ready.

Her gaze naturally wandered her dark-haired partner, she instantly averted her eyes.

As the speaker came on, prompting the two representatives for team RWBY and team FNKI to make their way to the ring for the doubles match, the three of them looked at each other.

"Well… I guess… I'll go back to find Ruby," the faunus awkwardly said, pointing towards one of the exits. "Good luck, both of you," she then added, her attention drifting from their white-haired teammate to meet violet orbs as the blonde also slid out of the booth.

Yang held her stare; her heart fluttered. She still couldn't get over how euphoric just looking at her made her now that she was certain of the nature of her feelings. "Thanks," she breathed, unable to wipe the smile off her face.

In a rare moment of openness, something akin to what Yang would only witness in the intimacy of each other's arms, Blake wasn't veiling her gaze. The way she stared back at her was so enthralling, so rich of affection, of tenderness, that the blonde just found herself smitten again. She had the impression that Blake didn't want to go, and Yang certainly didn't want to do anything but admire the captivating golden color of her eyes.

"For heaven's sake!" Weiss's exasperated voice shook them out of it. "If you two want to kiss, you  _can_ , you know."

In surprise, Yang turned to her. "Really!?" She excitedly exclaimed, only realizing afterwards how giddy she sounded; she subsequently tried her best to contain herself. "It's okay? You don't mind?"

Their snow-haired friend didn't look impressed with her. "It's weirder if you  _don't_  what with the way you're staring at each other."

Feeling absolutely sanctioned, Yang promptly went to find her partner, wrapping her arms around her waist. Finally closing the distance felt  _fantastic_. Blake however looked very self-conscious and simply rested her hands on her shoulders; golden orbs shifted to their teammate then to swipe the room around them.

The brawler found herself a little disheartened. "…Do you mind, Blake?"

With a short, nervous exhalation, her partner shook her head, meeting her eyes. "I don't mind. I simply never envisioned being able to be so open about who I am," she admitted with a sort of disbelieving smile.

"Next, the bow?" Yang grinned.

"Maybe," she mused, leaning in to press her lips to hers.

Finally being able to stop trying to maintain a forced distance between, especially when they'd been maintaining it in spite of their close friend  _knowing_ , was so unbelievably liberating. Dropping the pretence was an incredible weight off her shoulders, it was so sweet and just…  _amazingly_  freeing. A dizzying warmth flooded her and coursed through her veins, and the pure  _love_  she felt for the woman in her arms constricted her chest. Yang pulled her closer, she wanted to tell her  _now_. She broke from the kiss and leaned her forehead to hers, gazing affectionately into her eyes.

"Good luck," Blake repeated in a whisper against her lips.

"I feel invincible now," she grinned, tightening her grip around her waist.

"Be careful still," the faunus pleaded, and Yang couldn't resist capturing her lips once more to savour another kiss. Blake indulged for a few seconds before she caressed her cheek and pulled away further. "Don't push it," she warned under her breath. "Let's not give a show."

"Right," the blonde agreed despite truly not caring. Let the world see. Let everyone know who they were to each other. She still released her, letting her step away.

Waving to them, Blake quickly made her way out, heading to join up with Ruby.

The short heiress stepped next to her, armed crossed. "I've never seen you like this," she commented delightedly, once the raven-haired beauty was out of earshot.

"I love her," Yang murmured as they both watched her leave. "I  _really_  do," she added, looking on until she was completely out of sight. "It's like everything makes sense now," she mused out loud, as they started in direction of the arena. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her friend glance at her. "I mean—from the other day. Remember that talk all three of us had that night we spent on Mountain Glenn?"

"Of course I do."

Yang smiled to herself. "Remember how I said… you two were lucky for having something that drives you?"

Weiss now fully stared at her again, attentive. "I remember."

The blonde stopped. "…I think… it's not really true that I don't have anything that drives me," Yang cautiously started; her mind, her senses filled with her partner—her  _lover_. "…Back then when I tried looking forward, everything seemed foggy and unclear, but I… I feel like my head  _is_  clear when Blake's with me," she mused. "I  _know_ … in the future, I want to keep being with her.  _She's_ what drives me. I want to go where she goes. I want to help her accomplish everything she wants to accomplish. And I want to be there for her and take care of her when she won't take care of herself because she's so…. inspiringly driven," she trailed off, her train of thought leaping to something else. "I mean, she's so resolute and unwavering in her beliefs, and… righteous, and noble, and she has such a  _raw_  hunger for justice… She's got uncompromising integrity and such  _beautiful_  passion, it feels like her very  _soul_  is on fire." With this she turned to her friend with eager elation, with such excitement at what vision of the future her partner stirred in her.

"And…she… Blake inspires me to never lose sight of what I believe in and always be the best person I can be, so I can make a difference. I want to help her make a difference, because I  _know_  she will," she explained, so incredibly uplifted, almost euphoric at wording this. "She gives me direction just by being herself. She gave purpose to a future I couldn't see," Yang's eyes found the blue ones. "She… made it all clearer –  _brighter_."

Weiss blinked several times, looking a little surprised. "Blake said the same thing," she observed.

"What?"

"Just that last part," she clarified. "She said  _you_  make everything brighter."

The blonde's features stretched into a dreamy smile. She didn't even care how corny she was. "She said that?"

Weiss mirrored her expression somewhat with a small smile of her own, opting not to answer. Her eyes strayed away towards the gate, towards the sunlight that was the outside world at the end of the hall. "…I guess that's what being in love feels like," she mused. "Brighter."

Her heart swelled; she was unable to wipe the smile off her face. "Being in love," Yang breathed. She couldn't believe it. "…We're in love," she repeated quietly in amazed incredulity.

Meanwhile, Weiss was utterly unimpressed. "You two  _need_  to straighten all this out," she muttered.

Yang felt her genuine smile turn into an insuppressible smug grin. "… _Straight-_ en isn't quite the word," she countered, obviously  _way_  too proud of her answer.

"No. Don't you start this," Weiss warned.

"Hey, joking about it means I'm getting comfortable. It's good, right?"

She rolled her eyes and resumed her walk down the hall without answering. Still grinning to herself, the brawler trotted after her friend, and as they stood in the shadow of the gate, looking on to the brightly lit arena and waiting for the speaker to invite them onto the platform, Weiss addressed her again.

"Yang," she called.

"Yes, Princess?"

"Don't call me that," she scolded, throwing her an uncommitted glare. She held it only a second before returning her attention to their soon-to-be stage. "…You asked me what I wanted earlier."

Yang instantly turned to her in surprise. Was Weiss accepting to do her this favor? She would get some time alone with Blake?!

She kept staring straight ahead of her, seeming so very resolute. "I want this victory," she demanded.

"That's all?"

Her cool eyes slid to lock with the amethyst ones. "Actually, I want team RWBY to win the entire tournament, so I can rub it in my father's face," she affirmed. "But right now, this match. And I guarantee only two hours."

Yang laughed; the speakers prompted them to the stage in the background. "Deal. I intended on kicking their asses anyways," she grinned, stepping in the arena.  
  


* * *

  
After a shabby victory and having accompanied their white teammate to medical check, they were now heading back to their room. Weiss had practically kicked them out of the resting area, insisting they leave, claiming that Ruby alone would be plenty enough for either assistance or entertainment and that, moreover, it was the red hooded girl's  _duty_  as not only her partner but also team leader. Blake decided not to argue and leave. Her own partner was extremely keen on heading back; it was obvious the blonde wanted to take advantage of the time they'd have alone.

The faunus felt eyes on her back as Yang followed a few steps behind her in silence. Something was different. She couldn't quite pinpoint it, but something about Yang was different since the evening prior.

Was it because she had come out to her? Or maybe it had been the jealousy discussion? She was reasonably sure that Yang had been jealous, but maybe stressing it ended up making her uncomfortable? Blake sighed quietly. None of the options she would come up with seemed entirely right. Yes, whatever her partner gave off held some sort of uneasiness, but it wasn't one that could be truly read as discomfort. Moreover, that peculiar apprehension felt exacerbated compared to earlier in the morning. But in the morning, Weiss had been with them. So, was it because they were now alone? Or was the escalation of her disquiet entirely unrelated? Did Yang feel bad for what happened to Weiss maybe?

With all those unanswered questions on her mind, she let them in their room, watching as the mulling blonde walked up to her desk.

Yang uncuffed Ember Celica from her wrists, resting her weapons cautiously on the wooden furniture. After an extended moment of silence staring at the yellow-golden bracelets on her desk, she appeared to find some nerve and turned to her resolutely. "Blake."

As she'd already been observing her, the faunus kept passively staring.

Her partner, still standing next to her desk a few feet away, seemed to falter as soon as their eyes met.

Blake sighed. "…What's with you? Your head's been somewhere else today," she opened for her. "I know you have something on your mind. Whatever it is, you know you can talk to me."

"I know." Her answer was short and instant, yet nothing followed.

Blake got the impression the other woman wasn't even trying to formulate her thoughts into words; amethyst orbs stared back at her increasingly fretfully. It reached a point Yang looked like she was going to have a nervous meltdown.

"…Yang?"

"Weiss got hurt because of me," she blurted.

Blake had the strong impression all this wasn't about the tournament, that the brawler was deflecting the conversation. She nonetheless decided not to push it. "She made that call. You're not responsible for what happened," Blake countered. "But it's true that match was uncomfortably close. Given how well you individually do as fighters in normal conditions, it shouldn't have been such a struggle," she then added.

"I know, and that's why I feel responsible," Yang conceded. "I shouldn't have let myself get so distracted. I should've been tanking for Weiss, not running after that brat. It should've been a piece of cake."

She gave an acknowledging hum. "True; you shouldn't let your opponent get to you this way," she said. "But, to be fair… Weiss  _let_  you," she pointed out. "We all know how you are; being taunted that way, it was plain as day that you'd get riled up. Weiss should've had the presence of mind to snap you back into focus." Blake idly walked up to her partner. "Had it been Ruby or I, we would've reined you back to our side in no time."

Her mind went somewhere else entirely and a grin at once split her features. "Wow, I need to be reined in?"

How was it even possible for the mood to shift so decisively suddenly? That cocky smile she flashed would be Blake's downfall. She advanced even closer, so close she now felt Yang's body heat. "You have  _slight_  self-control issues," she remarked in a tone feigning casual disinterest.

The blonde stared down at her; Blake could clearly see her pupils had dilated visibly, giving her a predatory look as she leaned in. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

With that unnervingly sexy, playful chuckle of hers, Yang's hands found her hips, slowly sliding around her and down. "I think I'm having some of these very issues right now," she softly uttered, caressing her ass as she brought their bodies together. "Are you going to rein me in?" She teased. "Put me in my place?"

The images these suggestions evoked in Blake had her exhale hotly. "You'd like that?"

Yang gripped her rear a little more intently, inciting their lower bodies to press closer together. "You bet I would," she whispered, moving in to claim a slow kiss, earning herself a gentle moan from the faunus.

Blake wrapped her arms around her neck, Yang's body moulding so well against hers, the heat of it, and the taste of her kiss, at once sweet, spiced and deliciously warm… all of it was criminally inebriating.

"Then again," Yang murmured between kisses, "pretty much anything you want to do to me would be welcomed." Somehow, she managed to find Blake's gaze; the darkened violet of her eyes was hypnotising. "I want you  _so_  much…  _all the time_ ," she admitted, her voice laced with desire, "and the only thing that helps is when you do something about it."

A small smile grew on her lips. "I'll gladly lend a hand whenever you need," Blake offered, fully expecting her partner to pick up on the double entendre and excitedly respond with some sort of fingering joke.

Instead, realisation visibly coursed through her and her expression fell. Yang's embrace relaxed, and her touch went from needy to so unbelievably careful. As if she'd been handling something very fragile. "…Blake," she gently said, "you know I'm not using you for sex, right?"

The shock of hearing these words repeated back to her drained the blood from her face and extremities, leaving her fingers cold. Blake stared back at her partner with wide eyes and a leadened stomach.

Yang's grip on her tightened as if she was afraid she'd leave. "While you watched Sun's match, I… Weiss and I talked, and she was really angry with me, and she…" the blonde trailed off, visibly unsure what to relate, in what way to explain how it'd been relevant for their friend to end up divulging this. Yang held her breath for a second, her hands on Blake's lower back clutched the black fabric of her vest, and she searched her eyes earnestly. "…I'm  _not_  using you."

"…I know you're not, I—" Her voice caught in her throat. "I didn't mean it when I—… You  _know_  I don't really think…"

"No, I don't. I don't know for sure." She held the faunus's fretful gaze with an impressively committed one. "…So I needed to make sure you know that's not what this is."

Blake ultimately couldn't bear eye contact and her gaze slid to the side, lost in the room. "…I know," she confirmed under her breath. "I'm very embarrassed she told you this," she admitted.

Yang moved one of her arms around her shoulders, inciting her to lean in and rest her head on her shoulder. Blake willingly complied. Nuzzling into her was so, so comforting.

"She shouldn't have…" Yang agreed. "But like I said… She's been angry with me lately. And I think, it was…resent. That I made you feel like this," she whispered. "I think… she said it because she… wanted me to  _truly_  understand how I'm… I've… I've not been fair," she explained, the hand around Blake's shoulders had found the back of her head, soothingly combing through the dark curls with her fingers. Yang leaned her cheek against her head, and her warm voice next to her ear was so gentle. "I know I haven't been fair," she admitted, "and I wanted to tell you I'm sorry. I never meant to make you feel like this." The pain in her voice had Blake pull her a tad closer. "I'm disgusted with myself that I ever let it get to this," Yang whispered, pressing her cheek almost closer against the dark hair as she also tightened her grip on her. "Especially since what we're doing is—…i-it  _really_  isn't just…" she trailed off, it sounded as if she'd lost her voice.

Blake tenderly kissed the skin that was available to her with the way they were hugging, somewhere on her neck, close to her jaw. "I know," she quietly acknowledged.

She inhaled shakily. "I'm  _not_  doing it with you just to get off, you know?"

With a small nod, she let her hands follow down her spine to rest on the small of her back. "I know. I believe you."

Yang separated enough to look at her. "But do you  _really_?" Her concern was painfully obvious in her voice, on her features, in the way she so carefully embraced her.

"Yang, I know you care, I never doubted you do," Blake softly answered, omitting to broach what was in fact bothering her; just  _how much_  her partner cared. Because no matter how much this question weighed on her, she still felt sincerely blessed with the intimacy of their relationship. Of course, by the physical aspect, but also by how much deeper their emotional bond had undeniably become. By how the tenderness in moments like this one had become so natural. She was exceptionally thankful for all of it, so no matter how much she wanted Yang to be as hopelessly in love with her as she herself was with her partner, she still couldn't demean what they  _did_  have.

In an attempt to convey that she was fine, that  _this_  was fine, that though she yearned for more, she still wouldn't do it differently if she was given the chance to redo everything, she found herself compelled to speak up. "Either way, Yang, I'd  _much_  rather you be using me than not having this closeness with you at all."

The blonde winced almost imperceptibly, almost. It truly would've been impossible for Blake not to sense it with the way they were holding each other. Before Yang could say anything, she continued. "I'm not saying this because it doesn't matter to me which it is. Because it does matter, and I  _know_  you're not using me. But  _I_  want  _you_  to understand that…what we have, I'm already very grateful for," she explained.

There was a time when she didn't dare hope Yang could even have some semblance of curiosity towards women, much less that she would be inclined to explore it with  _her._  With her jaw-dropping looks and her innate charm, her partner could probably have had anyone she wanted.

Blake exhaled inaudibly. "Believe me, what we have is already more than I ever wished for."

"You say that, but…" Yang trailed off, and Blake could read the implied question plain as day;  _'you want even more, don't you?'_  But again, as always with this topic, she played it safe. "You were still upset when you talked with Weiss," she softly pointed out.

"I was being greedy," she affirmed.

The blonde inched closer again. Her fingers brushed her cheek before gliding into her hair, tucking dark bangs away from faunus's face. "It's okay to be," she so incredibly gently offered, prompting the raven-haired beauty to raise her gaze to meet her lover's once more. Those violet eyes held that very warmth that had Blake fall so hopelessly in love with her. "I'm greedy too," Yang recognized, "I was jealous, remember?"

She let the other woman tenderly outline her face, and Blake let out a quiet, shuddering breath. "I remember."

"See? So it's fine," she murmured, the tenderness in her touch, in her voice so dizzyingly sweet. "Be greedy."

With her fogged mind yet her body so  _alive_ , Blake could only wonder how it was possible to be feeling so many emotions at once: desperate hope and its eagerness, the anxiety that came hand in hand with anticipation, the blinding devotion, the adoration of intense love. Such overwhelmingly powerful, true  _love_  to the point she wondered if she was  _somehow_ , falling for her all over again right then.

Her thumb traced her lower lip as Yang carefully held her cheek and Blake's eyes were lost in the endlessness of that amethyst color. How she longed for her partner to want to be  _hers_ , heart and soul. "I can't be as greedy as I want to be," she guardedly whispered.

Yang kept her gaze. "…Why not? You think I'd mind?"

Through the rising tension in the air, she somehow was able to sustain eye contact, wondering what had possessed her partner to dare venturing there for once. She'd been so hell-bent on avoiding all this. Blake kissed her thumb as it had paused on her lips. "Would you?"

Leaning her forehead to hers had her close enough for Blake to notice Yang's breathing was unquestionably quivering. "I'd need to know what you want to answer that, wouldn't I?" She answered, still impressively calmly.

Blake's heart pounded so hard, its pulse constricted her throat and resonated in her head. "…What are you asking me to tell you?"

"… …What have you been meaning to tell me?"

By now, her whole body trembled, and the words were on the tip of her tongue. She had resolved to keep to herself until Yang was ready, until Yang was willing to broach the subject, and… here it was. What Yang was asking for was abundantly clear.

She'd let Yang set the pace for this relationship, and now she'd finally brought them to this point. Besides, Blake remembered telling herself how it hadn't been fair to put the burden of leading solely on her, that it must've been pressure enough already to be the one to decide to take every step, and that it'd only be fair for her to be the one taking the plunge when the time would come.

This had been what she had been waiting for and,  _somehow_ … fear paralyzed her.

It was absurd, she knew, but in that instant, she doubted everything she thought she knew about her partner—everything she thought she had understood Yang had been trying to tell her, everything Yang had in fact said out loud, every not so veiled question and excruciatingly tender touch. In all this, she told herself… since it was already an unspoken understanding that they both knew Blake loved  _her,_  if Yang felt he same, how hard would it be to tell her? If she did love her, why wasn't  _she_  telling Blake? Was there an underlying reason, outside of her…not actually loving her back? But if she  _didn't_  love her, why was she asking her to confess?

And as if these so very human fears weren't enough, she felt suffocated with the crushing weight of the concerns she'd shared with Weiss, the sickening impression of luring the golden girl into her darkness, of tarnishing her light, of being the reason she'd experience prejudice, discrimination, rejection,  _pain_ …

And though she could see Yang waited expectantly for what they both knew Blake needed to tell her, what Yang was  _finally_  telling her she was ready to hear… "Nothing you don't already know," was all she found herself capable of saying, faltering.

With a drop in tension, the air didn't seem so thick around them and the blonde unquestionably looked deflated, having evidently anticipated for it to finally come out. Blake's heart squeezed painfully. There was a small flicker of frustration compelling her to want to scream ' _You_  tell  _me_!', but it was clearly overpowered with the miserable feeling of having disappointed her, and more than anything, Blake wanted to erase that look from her features. She wanted to make her smile and melt, make her forget she'd been denied the truth once more, or even better, remind her of the mood she was in a second ago—because  _lust_ … Lust, Blake knew how to deal with. Lust was easy to handle; it was reassuring even, given how much of a well-known territory it'd become.

She pulled the blonde a tad suddenly into a deep, hungry kiss, bringing their bodies together completely again. Yang readily kissed her back, but the way she answered her, tenderly and yet unreservedly, made her feel… wanted. Not as much  _desired_  as...  _welcomed._ Welcomed in a way she'd never felt before, and the intrusive conviction that she should've told her nagged at the back of Blake's mind. Yang's arms around her waist clutched her, her hands gently massaged her back, and she didn't seem to want to do anything but kiss her.

Blake's hands slipped between their bodies to unbuckle her partner's belt; the half-skirt fell on the floor, and only then was a change sparked. Yang hummed in pleasure as she went to undo the faunus's black vest, and now her fingers trailed her skin, her ribs, moved underneath her white crop-top to swiftly unhook her bra. Her hand quickly circled back to the front and slid under the cup to take hold of her breast, and as she did this, Yang pushed closer. The way she kissed her then, Blake recognized; passion, raw desire… And now her  _own_  body was on fire. Redirecting her lover's focus had been her goal, but she'd tricked herself too.

"Yang," Blake called with more urgency than she intended, "I want you," she whispered, pressing into her hand, inciting her to massage her breast more assertively. She already trembled from how much she needed to consume her passion for her partner. "…You don't know how much I want you."

"Maybe almost as much as I want you…?" Yang quietly answered, kissing her neck now.

"You think you want me that much?"

Her free hand had busied itself undoing the white shorts, and her lips wouldn't leave her skin as she spoke. "Are you kidding?" The blonde shot back, somewhere between amused and incredulous. "Blake, I  _worship_  you," she breathed, pushing the shorts halfway down her hips. She sucked on her neck longingly, certainly marking the skin. "Let me show you how I worship you," she heatedly added, and the second her lips had left her neck, they had already found her stomach. As she had knelt, she'd also pushed her shorts further down her legs, making sure to drag her underwear along as well. Yang's hands trailed her legs over the purple and black stockings.

Seeing the blonde kneeling in front of her this way, apparently incapable of tearing her lips from her skin, made her legs awfully weak. Blake's fingers found her partner's on her thighs as Yang's tongue already parted her. Her hot breathing warmed her groin, and Yang moved closer, her massive cleavage pushed against Blake's thighs. The faunus exhaled hotly. "Not beating around the bush, are you?" she noted, feeling herself smile.

Her partner glanced back up at her, she sucked lengthily on her lips before addressing her once more, that playful grin of hers stretching her features. "No, Blake. Licking under it."

She hadn't anticipated a pun. "…God, really?"

Yang laughed, resuming what she was doing. The sensation of her mouth as she pressed it again to her sex had Blake vacillate; she pushed blonde bangs back, trying to see her face. With her eyes closed and the rest of her features brightened by her enduring smile, Yang's expression was bordering on blissful as she readily lapped at her. Blake gently combed her hair with her fingers, and it seemed to prompt her to press closer. Her hands had been securely fastened to the back of her thighs now massaged the flesh as her tongue more steadily rubbed against her clit. Blake's hips instinctively followed along, and as her breathing deepened, she parted her lips for a moan she hadn't realize she'd been holding in.

It evidently enflamed the blonde; she wrapped her arms around her to cling to her hips, gripping her ass as she pressed her body, most notably her breasts, to the faunus's thighs, all along with her tongue rubbing even more insistently. Yet she'd only parted her enough to suck and play with the hardened bud. Blake felt herself twitching, aching for her tongue—or fingers, she didn't care which— to penetrate her. Yang would relentlessly tease, sucking on her, licking her clean of the fluids that kept coming, and Blake wondered if she was purposely avoiding venturing inside of her.

It didn't matter much which it was because very soon, Blake was unable to prevent herself from trying to get full gratification, and she tightened her grip on her hair, holding her head in place as she advanced slightly over her face. Not one to be ruffled, Yang welcomed her forceful invitation, seizing her thighs with both hands again as she opened her mouth, her tongue pushing into her. Blake felt her knees buck.

"Yang—" She gasped. "M-my legs are giving out…"

Before she knew it, Yang had stood up, pressing their bodies together. The urgency with which she gripped her hips as she forced her leg between her thighs, being able to taste herself in Yang's mouth as she devoured her lips, woke something so primal in Blake, she barely recognized herself. She rocked her hips to grind against her thigh, and the brawler's strong arms wrapped around her to support most of her weight. The dark-haired faunus let herself melt, her whole body rolling with the thrust of her hips, moving against her lover's absurdly divine curves and muscular build, and the purring in her throat intensified thanks to the glorious feeling.

Yang held her up and close with one arm and firmly grabbed her ass with the other hand to encourage her rocking. "It's so fucking hot when you do that," she breathed burningly.

Blake pressed closer, clinging to her partner like she wanted to dissolve into her. The unequivocal  _need_  she felt was not something she could associate exclusively with the love she had for the woman in her arms. It was also primal,  _savage_ even, and she compulsively craved naked flesh against her own, her feverish skin, the saltiness of her sweat, the sweetness between her legs. She pulled back enough to aggressively seize the tan blazer with both hands; she locked eyes with the other woman's gleaming violet orbs. "Bed. Now."

Without hesitation, Yang pulled her up in her arms and quickly moved them to bed. The blonde fell on her back, and Blake took over, fumbling to unbutton her blazer and almost ripping it off her as Yang raised herself enough to follow along with her top and bra. The faunus rapidly pushed her back down, claiming her lips again and seizing one of her large breasts, feeling the hardened nipple pressed in her palm, then coaxing a low moan from her as she rolled her nipple between her fingers.

As if this touch had prompted her to want to do the same, Yang instantly started pulling at the black sleeveless vest and white crop top Blake was still wearing. Without missing a beat, Blake got rid of them along with her already unhooked bra. Now both topless, she couldn't resist her desire to feel her skin, her flesh, her warmth, and Blake lied on her, leaving Yang's bottoms along with their stockings alone for the time being.

"Blake," she whispered, short of breath already. Her hands found her ass again, and Yang pulled their hips together, thrusting her pelvis lightly against hers. She exhaled heavily. "Holy shit, Blake…"

Lightheaded with how saturated with desire her senses were, Blake nuzzled into her neck, breathing the inebriating scent of her hair. "I love when you say my name," she mused.

"I love when you say  _mine_ ," Yang promptly retorted, kissing the side of her head.

Consumed with her urges, she wasn't thinking. "I'll say it," Blake volunteered.

Her lover drew back to look at her, searching to meet her eyes. "You would?" she questioned earnestly.

There was a spark of anticipation, maybe even hope in her gaze, and Blake knew very well why her partner was so intent on this. Her guess was… it wasn't her name as much as the words that had nearly slipped on that morning that had Yang so fretful. Blake stared back into the gleaming violet orbs. "I would if you want me to," she still found herself saying.

"That's all I want," the blonde answered, and with the way she gazed up at her, rapt,  _fascinated_ , Blake almost believed it.

"…Is it really?  _All_  you want?" She quietly inquired.

Yang was still seemingly hypnotized with her. "No," she shamelessly confessed, fingers trailing on her naked skin.

"…Then what else do you want?" She dared, hoping her partner under her wouldn't feel the way her heart rate jumped as she willed this question past her lips.

Staring up at her for a second, her clear amethyst eyes shining with something Blake didn't recognize, Yang's fingers moved on her back, idly down to her rear. "Nothing you don't already know," she whispered, mirroring her partner's earlier words.

"…That's unfair," Blake protested practically inaudibly, shivering at the venturing touch.

The blonde caressed her ass insistently again. "Who's being unfair?" She murmured back.

Opting not to answer, Blake crashed her lips to hers, letting her hands fall on her hips and tugging at the black shorts. Yang allowed herself to be undressed, helping her rid her of what was left of her clothes. The magnificent experience of her flawless body moulding against hers and the enslaving taste of her lips had Blake forget herself; she didn't remember wanting anything as much as she wanted her then. Nothing mattered but disappearing in her arms, breathing her breath, feeling her heartbeat resonate through her whole being. Hands massaged Blake's naked back, ran back up through jet black locks of hair, and Yang arched her back under her like she somehow wanted to be even closer. Blake moaned gently into the kiss, pushing right back, caressing her face, her shoulders, and it felt so  _right_  to share this intimacy.

Only… in a sudden flash of lucidity, Blake remembered that this room wasn't theirs alone. She wished she could throw all caution to the wind, but this reality still weighed on her; she broke from her lips, eyelids heavy, utterly drunk with her, yet she willed herself to be speak. "Yang…" she managed, "…I know … I know I'm the one who s-started it, but what if they—"

"It's fine," Yang cut in, with evidently no intention of stopping.

Getting walked in on wasn't an experience Blake felt she needed in her life. "It's not," she protested.

"No, it is," the blonde argued. "Weiss promised that if we won, she'd keep Ruby away for a while," she then explained as her hand ventured on the back of her thigh in a light, teasing, featherlike caress.

The answer she'd received abruptly brought Blake down to earth. "…You actually  _asked_  her? So we could have sex?" she balked. "Have you no shame?"

Somewhat pouting, Yang stopped her attentions. "But she knows we're doing it already. Why is it a problem to ask for some time alone?"

Blake couldn't help thinking the blonde's point was more than valid. Their teammate was fully aware of this aspect of their relationship, and in all fairness… would probably have expected them to ask for something like this sooner or later. Somewhere along the way, the faunus had slowly leaned back to sit up without having really noticed, and after a short pause, she found herself asking, "So, how long do we have?"

A smile crept back on the brawler's features. "A bit under two hours."

"…I guess that'll have to do," Blake gave, her eyes drifting down on her partner's body. They both seemed to come aware of how exposed she'd been left as Blake had separated from her. Yang started to bring her legs together as she manifestly wanted to sit up too, but the faunus laid both hands on her knees, stopping her. "Stay like this. Don't cover yourself," she instructed.

Yang leaned back again but remained propped on her elbows to be able to look back at her partner sitting between her thighs. She looked definitely amused. "You like that kind of view?"

Unreservedly studying her, the way her breasts rose with every inhalation, the flawlessness of her smooth skin, her smooth-shaved and glistening wet sex, completely exposed with the way her legs were spread, Blake's golden orbs flickered to meet her partner's amethyst. "Shouldn't I?"

"I didn't say that," Yang said with a growing smile. "…But it's  _very_  gay," she snorted.

She pursed her lips. "You're making fun of me?"

"Not at all," the blonde instantly defended. "Look. Look all you want," she invited, smiling. She brushed the golden locks off her breasts and spread her legs wider. The twinkle in her eyes made it crystal clear she was revelling in Blake's attention. "I love the way you look at me," she still told her, completely owning up to it.

There was a long silence in which Blake did nothing but stare openly, taking her time to overtly examine her body. Though she had a stunning figure, Yang was not what one would call delicate; her athletic build was well balanced by her remarkably large chest and wide hips. In addition to this, her tight core gave her an exceptional hourglass figure. The golden locks falling all around her like a lion's wild mane, or maybe even the sun's halo, the amused grin stretching her features, and the playful gleam in her beautiful,  _beautiful_  amethyst completed the picture. Her lover was the very picture of liveliness, of health, of  _life_ , and Blake pondered a split second how the sinister shadow that she was could ever entice someone so radiant. Her fingers brushed her skin from her knees down her thighs. "…You're… unbelievably beautiful, you know?"

"I'm not completely unaware," Yang cheekily answered. "But… Thank you. Hearing it from you…" Her expression softened, losing most of its playfulness. "…It  _really_  means something to me."

"It does?" She gently questioned.

"…I don't care anymore how anyone else looks at me. I don't care if anyone else finds me attractive," she admitted, reminding Blake how she'd claimed her potential attraction to men had become irrelevant. "As long as  _you_  look at me the way you are now, I'm satisfied."

"I don't see how anyone _wouldn't_ look at you the way I look at you," Blake pointed out; it was the truth after all. She shamelessly observed her body, both hands slowly caressing her thighs. "I've never seen someone so gorgeous."

"You mean you never looked in a mirror?"

The faunus rolled her eyes.

Yang snickered, and Blake couldn't help a small smile. In the first weeks that team RWBY started living together, she didn't anticipate she'd ever come to be so fond of her humor.

Blake's interest drifted again from her features down her body, her demeanor quickly losing her amused quality. The way she let her fingers lovingly travel the skin of her thighs turned into a more assertive massage, and the blonde rapidly followed suit with the change of mood. Looking at her with incredibly alluring, heavy lidded eyes, Yang flashed a seductive smile. "…So? Are you going to do something else but stare, Kitten? I'm kinda  _really_  bothered here."

The corner of Blake's lips curled up too. "I can see that," she purred, gaze wandering to between her legs. "You're incredibly wet."

Yang's provocative grin only stretched wider; she caressed down her own body, her hand coming to a halt on her pelvis. "It's the look in your eyes. It makes me really hot _,_ " she breathed in a playful tone.

Blake knew exactly what she meant. Oftentimes, the way Yang would stare at  _her_ , either with that most invigorating look of blatant lust, with such voracity, such  _greed,_  that it bordered on predatory… or at other times, an admiring, almost revering gaze of adoration—too often, the way her lover would so engrossedly study her would have her body readily respond, turning her on even in inappropriate times and places.

"Blake," the blonde called softly, interrupting her train of thought. "The other day… I  _did_  say I'd show you, didn't I?" She murmured; her fingers glided between her legs, parting her lips and coating themselves with the evidence of her advanced state of arousal. Yang moaned quietly, licking her lips as she started touching herself.

And with this, Blake quite suddenly found that simply breathing was a challenge. Her hands grasped at the flesh of her thighs maybe a little too roughly, and a heightened awareness of what was happening subjugated her. Her eyes only flickered away from what the blonde was doing so she could burn an image of the whole portrait in her head. Yang; her sultry expression and parted lips as she lay naked on her back, her legs spread wide open to expose everything, and then of course, the way she made a show of pleasuring herself, dexterously caressing herself.

As she watched, not failing to take notes as she enjoyed the sight, Blake eventually noticed something. "You don't penetrate yourself…?" She found herself asking.

Giving a gentle hum, she fidgeted a bit. "Not really…" she allowed, somewhat winded.

"Would you rather I not do it when I'm-"

"No," Yang cut in, " _God_ , no! Get your fingers in there as deep as you can, I love it," she laughed, accelerating her own pace; the tone of her voice as she moaned again was now tainted with urgency.

Blake exhaled heavily, and though she knew this hadn't necessarily been meant to be an invitation, she still brought fingers between her partner's legs. Yang started removing her hand to let her take over, but the faunus hummed in disapproval. "Keep going," she whispered, pushing two fingers in.

The blonde raised her eyebrows, resuming playing with herself as Blake slowly pumped her fingers, her gaze intently locked with the violet eyes. Quickly, a wild grin etched itself on her lips, and Yang laughed saucily this time. "Okay," she breathed, her voice barely under control, "that's  _definitely_  one way to get me off fast."

Without a word, Blake pushed her fingers harder, earning herself a gasp from the other woman.

"Wow, you're not playing around," she managed shakily, her grin widening. The faunus smiled back, sliding her fingers in and out to dictate a more fervent pace and in a few thrusts, Yang abruptly grasped at the bed sheets with the hand she wasn't using to help stimulate herself. "Blake," she called, her voice louder. She met each thrust of her fingers with a roll of her hips and threw her head back, rapidly losing control. "Oh god… Blake…" she moaned feverishly.

Captivated with the show, she advanced to lean over her, feeling her own breathing get ragged. She fingered her faster, and these ferocious impulses gripped her again. She felt herself salivating, watching Yang's body writhe under her. Her abs contracted intermittently as she breathed sharply and pushed with her hips, her skin flushed with the pleasure, and Blake leaned closer, kissing between her breasts, kissing her stomach. Yang's hand was in her hair. Blake was gripped once more with the urge to taste her, but before she could head down, Yang stopped moving, holding her breath for a second, and Blake's fingers inside her felt squeezed, pulled on lightly, and slowing contractions followed. Golden eyes flowed up to her features, slowly back down her body. Yang's legs twitched closer together, pressing on Blake's sides, and the faunus sighed gently. Still without lying on her, she moved up to softly kiss her lips again and again, and Yang returned every one of those gentle kisses, smiling.

When she deemed her breathing pretty much back to normal, Blake pulled back to look at her. "That was probably the hottest thing I've seen," she admitted.

Yang had a weary smile, rolling her head on the pillow. "Probably?" She questioned, eyes still closed. "Not definitely?"

The faunus gave an amused hum, drawing her partner's gaze. "The first time I saw your face between my legs would compete with this," she offered.

"Alright, acceptable answer," she allowed, chuckling. Both of her hands had found her partner's arms, massaging them up and down, as Blake still held herself over her on all fours. "That was at the inn, wasn't it?" She mused. "Our first time properly having sex, and you took it upon yourself to straddle my face. That was  _way_  bolder than I'd expected."

She pursed her lips, somewhat embarrassed with being reminded of how audacious she'd been. "I thought you liked me being feisty," she argued defensively.

"I do," Yang instantly replied. "I was just saying it'd surprised me," she explained, watching as Blake dropped herself next to her, facing her. Yang turned on her side, without ever looking away. "I loved that you did that," she then offered,"…I'm actually kinda bummed you never did it again."

Blake raised her eyebrows in a bit of a surprise; she'd felt self-conscious having imposed herself on her partner, and though Yang had indeed reassured her it'd been fine, she still hadn't been completely at ease. "Yeah?"

"Yeah!" She enthusiastically confirmed. Yang then scooted closer, her hand slunk on her waist then unhurriedly moved a little lower. Blake could feel her grip on her hip, the way her thumb traced her slightly protruding hipbone. "It was really hot," Yang commented, her fingers moved on her stomach, lazily tracing its defined lines. "And… the view was pretty amazing too, from down there."

"Is that right?" Blake questioned back, enjoying the wandering fingers and how her lover teased to approach more sensitive areas. "I wasn't lucky enough to experience that view just yet," she whispered, her interest straying from the other woman's features down to her still obviously worked up body. The image of Yang kneeling over her face as it coursed through her mind made it feel like fire coursed through her veins. "Show me."

She looked startled. "But I just…" Yang trailed off, pausing her caresses. "It's your turn."

The faunus reached out to gently trail her fingers from her collarbone to cup one of her breasts, slowly resuming kneading it. Maybe stirring her again would sway her, she thought. "You did a lot of the work just now, plus the other morning… you made me cum twice without getting your share," she remarked.

"Who's keeping count?" The blonde shrugged, letting herself be petted. "We shouldn't be keeping score for stuff like this."

"Who just tried arguing that it's my turn?" She pointed out, unimpressed. As she said this, she squeezed her breast more assertively, her hardened nipple rubbed in her palm and goaded a small groan from her. Yang lightly pushed her chest in her hand and Blake smirked. "You're so easy to work up."

"Sorry," she sarcastically offered.

The dark-haired woman leaned in for a kiss, and her partner indulged readily. It always impressed her how effortlessly she could make the blonde comply to her own desires. She drew back not even half an inch and leisurely traced her lower lip with the tip of her tongue. Yang opened her mouth, shakily breathing out and trying to get another kiss, but Blake moved out of reach to lock her gaze with the now needy violet orbs. "Give me what I want," she pressed quietly.

Yang stared back only a second before she slowly sat up, and the faunus turned to settle on her back. Her blonde partner paused a short moment to stare down at her again. It looked to Blake like she was still hesitating, but she ultimately opted to go for it. Yang carefully pushed black hair from the pillow, an effort to avoid inadvertently pulling it by kneeling on it, as she moved her thighs on each side of her head. As she positioned herself over her, her smell and her warmth hit Blake at once, intensifying her hunger like oil thrown on fire. Looking up to the sight of her beautifully toned stomach or the underside of her generous chest, of her golden mane of curls cascading down her shoulders to envelop her body and her twinkling violet eyes peering down at her was breathtakingly arousing. Yang had been right, the view truly was marvellous; Blake's hand sneaked between her own legs as she instructed in a whisper, "Lower yourself a little."

Doing as she was told, Yang moved herself down; Blake eagerly pressed her mouth to her, eliciting a quiet gasp from her. Her intoxicating taste and how amazingly hot her sex was set Blake's skin on fire, the heat burning through to her extremities. Her fingers were already inside of herself, and she gripped her partner's rear with her other hand, inciting a motion of her hip, inviting her to follow along as she licked. Yang seemed hesitant to move much at first and Blake remembered how she had herself been cautious when she'd been in her position—wanting to be mindful of letting her breathe, trying to keep it comfortable for the one underneath. It was however only a few intent strokes of her tongue for the blonde to get in rhythm; she sighed with lust, quickly losing herself to the pleasure. Blake felt intense goose bumps course through her; the primal thrust of her hips as Yang slowly rubbed herself against her tongue, in her mouth, as she quickly started struggling to stay upright was criminally sexy. The way—oh, the  _way_  she rocked her whole body, throwing her head back, her hands ruffling her own blonde bangs before falling on her breasts to caress down her stomach, had Blake purring.

Her golden eyes stayed just barely cracked open to watch as she avidly lapped at her, sucked on her flesh, pushed her tongue inside of her, and the blonde writhed and laughingly moaned in that way that drove Blake mad. She squeezed a third finger inside herself, a harsh breath escaping her; she never used to do this herself, but when Yang would finger her with three, it'd drive her wild. And right then, those primal urges she felt rising in the pit of her stomach  _needed_  to be tended to. She pushed her fingers deep inside herself, fiercely grabbing onto her partner's hip with her free hand, hurriedly moving to grip her ass as she pressed her face suffocatingly closer between her legs.

This aggressive upsurge of lust positively invigorated Yang who grinded harder and suddenly grabbed onto the headboard of the bed with both hands, moaning a higher pitched moan than she usually would. Her body was shaking, and Blake stuck her tongue deep again. "Fuck," Yang vacillatingly whimpered. "Blake," she called, one of her hands finding her head, quivering as she clutched black hair between her cat ears. " _Blake_ ," she called even more urgently, obviously close to the edge.

The faunus felt the rumbling from her chest and throat intensify, aware that the other woman would undoubtably feel it reverberated in her mouth against her flesh. Black strands of hair messily stuck to Yang's thighs and crotch, to Blake's forehead with the sweat, and to her cheeks in her partner's fluids smeared over them. Blake panted harshly with the exertion, with her own arousal, with the heaviness and humidity of the air that couldn't seem to satisfy her lungs. Yang's thighs on each side of her head were shaking, and Blake cracked her eyes open again, looking on as her skin flushed at once; sweat rolled down the slightly spasming muscles of her lover's abs as she struggled to catch her breath, pushing her sex against her mouth. Had the taste gotten sweeter, or was Blake delirious with lust? This was  _so_  absurdly arousing, she was nearly losing her mind.

Yang gradually stopped pushing and, slowly relaxing, she raised herself slightly; Blake was gasping for air she didn't care for and she tightened her arm around her thigh, compelling her partner to stay put before she  _dared_  move off. The faunus was so close to her climax and the blonde bombshell straddling her this way was driving her insane, and she would  _not_  lose that rush. She pressed her cheek to her thigh, panting harshly against the flesh she'd been licking so avidly a moment ago.

Yang gently combed dark bangs away from her eyes. "Look up here, kitten…" she whispered, drawing her gaze.

With a fond smile, the blonde groped her own breasts, then moved her hands down her stomach, sensually fondled her body, thrusting her hips faintly as her hands outlined them and then went back up sensually, making quite a show of caressing herself. Blake's lust spiked; that magnificent sensation of free-fall overtook her at once. She stopped pumping her fingers as the rush flooded her, her mind going blank, her body pulsating. It was a few seconds for her to start regaining her senses.

She turned her head to hide her face against her lover's thigh, feeling herself blushing and most definitely dizzy. "You're ridiculously sexy, my god…"

Yang laughed, resuming combing away black locks of hair. Her fingers tenderly traced around flattened cat ears. "I just  _love_  seeing that I turn you on this much," she teased.

"You're a pervert," Blake accused, her voice slightly muffled as she pressed her face more firmly into her thigh.

"Says the cat who's stopping me from getting off her face," Yang shot back, prompting Blake to embarrassedly let go of her thigh.

Still very amused, the blonde moved off in favor of lying by her side. The faunus stuck herself to her partner almost instantly, resuming hiding her face, this time in her chest. She felt her lover's arms draw her closer and her cheek rest on top of her head between the cat ears, and Blake snuggled into the embrace. She could feel Yang's body relax to its normal pace and hear her heart as its pulse slowed to the most soothing rhythm the universe had fashioned. Blake felt herself start to drift to sleep, and as if her partner had sensed it, her voice shook her awake again.

"Did I ever tell you how good you are with that mouth of yours?"

Blake could hear her smile in the tone of her voice. "You have now," she whispered, smiling too. Pulled out of her lethargy by both the small exchange and her amusement, her mind now seemed to be quickly unfogging. She pulled her head out of her partner's ample chest. "How much time left…?"

Yang turned over on her back, one arm still stuck under Blake, and patted around on the floor next to the bed to find her scroll somewhere in her blazer. As she brought it over her head, the sudden brightness of it had the faunus push her face back into her breast.

"About forty minutes," the blonde answered, laying her device on the bedside furniture before kissing her temple. She rolled on her side to face her again.

Blake sighed. She straightened up a bit, and they both repositioned themselves, Yang's arm moved up to support her neck as the faunus laid her head on the pillow to be able look at her. "We need to leave ourselves some time to clean up," she absentmindedly reflected.

"Yeah, but we still have some time," the blonde countered, leaning her forehead to hers. She used the arm under her to wrap around her shoulder and hug her while her other hand found her waist and her hip the same way it had earlier; Blake could clearly read the intent in her caress. The way Yang's breathing had grown deeper again also told its own tale.

"We may have  _some_  time," Blake started nearly inaudibly, "but isn't it better to play it safe?" Although… how desired Yang made her feel, subtly smelling her skin, almost imperceptibly pressing their bodies closer together, was certainly stirring her again.

"Maybe," Yang quietly allowed, "but you haven't said my name," she then reminded her.

Blake held her gaze in silence as her partner took it upon herself to proceed.

The brawler's hand went from her hip to take hold of her thigh, and she lifted it enough to guide it around herself to rest on her hip. The faunus pulled her closer with the leg she'd placed around her, it drew an unbelievably fond smile from her lover. Blake's breath was taken away for a second; she wasn't quite sure if she'd ever seen that smile before. Yes, Yang had smiled at her with warmth, care and fondness more times than she could count, but not with this immeasurable tenderness.

Yang's arm under her neck, wrapped around her shoulders, moved just slightly to let her fingers travel to the back of her head and massage her scalp. She leaned in, brushing her lips to hers and capturing them in a gentle kiss, which Blake gladly answered. The blonde's hand still on her thigh kneaded it comfortingly and now, with the way it rested on her partner's body to part her legs, the faunus realized just how much she yearned to be touched. That's how, as she felt her lover's hand slip between them, she readily moved her hips back about an inch to give the other woman some manoeuvring space. She felt Yang cup her sex, gently applying pressure with her palm before her fingers slowly started tracing the wet line to gradually part her. The midnight-haired faunus exhaled a short, quivering sigh into their kiss, which prompted her partner to move back an inch and study her features.

That smile was still on her features.

It was so,  _so_  very tenderly, so  _adoringly_  that Yang smiled, an upsurge of warmth coursed through Blake's veins, smothering her with overwhelming happiness. Her heart picked up pace, but not because of the pleasant caresses of her partner's. No, what got to her was how the urgency and raw desire Yang would usually be consumed with was absent. Blake was filled with the understanding that what Yang was doing… it wasn't her giving into her hunger, into lust.  _This_ … it wasn't being done with a clouded heart or a clouded mind. It was  _very_  deliberate and somehow conveyed so much more intimacy. Fingers softly teased her opening and the dark-haired woman leaned her forehead against her partner's; the blonde rubbed her nose to hers. Blake felt an insistent smile stretch her features to mirror her lover's.

This prompted the hand at the back of her head to scratch lovingly through the jet-black locks. "Your smile really makes me melt," Yang divulged in a whisper, and what burned in her violet eyes… Blake could only think of one word to properly describe it.

Her heart swelled so much she thought it might burst, and as the blonde pushed her fingers inside of her, the faunus felt the words surge in her throat. She forgot her fears and concerns. She forgot why she couldn't find it in herself to voice it earlier. She forgot everything but how  _right_  it felt to tell her because  _god_ —this was so right. Blake gasped shakily, completely mesmerized by her eyes, by the care with which she touched her, and she brought trembling fingers to her lover's cheek. "Yang?"

Her tenderness was impossibly inviting. "Hmm?"

Though it felt surreal, Blake still knew deep within her very soul that this urge to speak her truth wasn't a foolish compulsion instigated by being caught up in the moment. Her mind, her thoughts… her heart, they were as clear as could be, and so she finally allowed herself to voice it. "I love you," she murmured.

Yang came to a stop and the dark-haired woman found herself surprisingly at ease with holding her partner's wide-eyed gaze. The blonde stared at her, speechless and… in  _awe_ , Blake realized. She seemed to have forgotten to even breathe so still she was.

Blake stroked her cheek with her thumb; her hand was still cupping her face, eyes still on hers. "…I'm in love with you," she repeated, making sure there was no mistake. "Really,  _truly_ … in love with you."

The stillness and silence stretched, yet Blake still wasn't uncomfortable in the slightest. Though she'd have to admit it really  _was_  strange, lying so motionless while Yang's fingers were still deep inside her.

"…I don't expect you to say anything," she decided to continue, not wanting the silence to pressure her. "I just… I needed to say it, for myself. Because I never thought I could possibly love anyone this much, and I… just…" she trailed off, beginning to be a little concerned with her partner's lack of reaction. "…You don't mind that I told you, right?"

Pulled out of her trance, Yang smiled a positively  _magnificent_  smile. "…If I  _mind_ …?" She repeated in a breath. She looked unquestionably exhilarated as she closed the distance for a deep, heartfelt kiss. The sort of kiss which used to give Blake a glimmer of hope that her partner may be feeling the same. In that moment, the faunus was very aware of how she likely hadn't been fooling herself when that impression filled her. Yang kissed her this way because… she'd probably felt the same way for longer than they'd both realized. The faunus felt herself pushed gently on her back, she let her take complete control as Yang lied on top of her, never releasing her lips.

Her lover's heap of golden locks fell around her, saturating her senses, and Yang's shape moulded together with hers like a missing piece of herself. The blonde faintly curled her fingers inside of her, pushing up, against the front wall, and the dark-haired beauty moaned in the kiss. Feeling so wrapped in her presence, in  _her_ , with the weight of her body and the way it moved on top of Blake, in pace with her thrusts, it all was  _heavenly_. Her partner released her lips only to kiss her cheek, the line of her jaw, and Blake exhaled shakily, drowning in her. "I love you," she repeated under her breath, " _so_  much…"

Yang gave a short, almost disbelieving laugh, and her expression as she pulled back to gaze at her, amazingly elated,  _blissful_ , was probably the most adorable thing Blake had seen in her life. It made her vision blur and prompted Blake to close her eyes, wrapping both arms tightly around her neck. Yang snuggled closer, focusing on pumping her fingers, and the faunus moaned gently, pressing her forehead against the side of her head, the scent of her hair filling her senses. It was so quiet that Blake nearly missed it as Yang whispered to her, "Tell me again."

Blake smiled, nuzzling into the golden mane. "I love you," she murmured close to her ear, tightening her grip around her shoulders. Yang's embrace grew stronger in return, and she dictated an intense pace with her fingers, pulling them out slower than she'd push them back in a quick, short motion; Blake rolled her hips against her hand, submitting to the rhythm. She was so dizzy with sensations, with the urgency of the rush, with how utterly intoxicating Yang was to her, she already felt her grip on reality slipping.

"Yang," she moaned feverishly, and the blonde pushed closer, assaulting her lips; Blake could feel her smile as she kissed her, and she could only smile too. She thought she was melting. She wanted to kiss her, but she panted so hard her lungs downright burned. Blake couldn't remember ever being so completely consumed with her love or for anything to have ever been as fulfilling as Yang accepting her truth, accepting  _her_ so wholly. Her trembling lips hastily found the blonde's again and again. "I love you," she let the words escape between fevered kisses as her body gave in to euphoria.

Her nails dug in the flesh of her shoulders, and her thighs jerked together on each side of her partner, squeezing her; her mind going blank, Blake pushed her hips keenly to her hand, and Yang pushed back without thrusting anymore. Her eyes were shut tightly, but everything was blindingly white; the only thing she was aware of was how her partner's heart pounded against her chest, resonating together with her own perfectly. She then gradually started coming down from her high.

Breathing heavily in the golden hair, Blake's mind progressively cleared. Yang didn't move from on top of her. In fact, she didn't move at all anymore. The faunus slowly loosened her embrace, letting her hands down the curve of her back to rest around her waist. The silence that lingered was surprisingly comfortable as they both caught their breath, immobilized. Yang almost imperceptibly leaned her head to hers, and Blake, in response, lightly rubbed hers against the blonde hair. It was another minute or so before the brawler raised herself on her elbows to look down at her.

"It's not the same just to know compared to hearing you say it," Yang gently said.

Looking up at her, she sighed silently; the relief and the weightlessness Blake felt now that she'd at last been able to let it out was astounding. "It's not the same knowing that you know and actually being able to tell you," she quietly agreed.

Yang outlined her features with the tip of her fingers, tenderly brushing away black bangs; Blake noticed she could smell herself faintly on her hand. "…You know, you didn't have to hide it. It would've been fine if you'd told me sooner," the blonde murmured.

The dark-haired faunus hummed, leaning into her touch. "I  _did_  want to tell you for a while now," she acknowledged. Yang's fingers drifted in her hair, up to trace around a cat ear, and a delightful shiver coursed through Blake. "…But I was scared," she admitted hushedly, "and… for a long time, I don't think you were quite ready to hear it."

"…Maybe not," Yang bashfully allowed, breaking eye contact. She then mustered herself enough to glance her way again, an adorable twinkle brightening her eyes. "I'm happy you told me."

Blake felt herself smile. How could her blonde partner be so endearing? "You look happy," she granted.

"I'm  _really_  happy," she whispered, smiling wider.

"Then I'm happy too," the faunus breathed. Her lover leaned in to kiss her impossibly gently, and Blake could feel her persistent smile as they kissed. She caressed her cheek and reached to comb the golden curls with her fingers; a soft hum escaped Yang. "We have to wash up," she reminded her.

"Yeah," the blonde agreed, almost inaudibly.

It took another moment before either of them moved; Yang only willed herself to roll off her when Blake commandingly patted her butt, urging her to get off.

The raven-haired woman pulled herself out of bed to start picking up clothing they'd discarded all over the floor while the blonde headed to the bathroom to start up the shower. Blake joined her shortly; her lover's golden mane was pulled up on a bun on the top of her head, and she offered to do up the faunus's midnight locks the same way to prevent them from getting wet. Once she was done, their hands found each other's, and fingers interlaced; Blake wasn't really sure who had taken whose hand, but Yang tugged faintly, guiding her under the water. They washed up in comfortable silence, Blake's touch lingered on her wet skin as she soaped her lover's back. Her lips found her spine, and her arms were around her waist. Yang leaned back into her, and oh how Blake wanted to love her more. How tempting it was to throw caution to the wind. But she knew they would have plenty of time in the future, it was no use being so greedily unreasonable now, especially since Yang would need to start getting ready for her single's match. With a last kiss on her nape, Blake managed to make herself let go of her and step out of the shower. The other woman followed, and they dried themselves quickly.

As she re-applied light makeup, Yang took it upon herself to take care of her hair again, conscientiously undoing the bun and carefully combing the dark locks. With her own, she simply pulled the hairband out and ruffled it lightly. "Blake?"

The faunus meticulously re-tied her bow. "Hmm?"

There was a short silence as the blonde slipped on clean underwear and attached her bra. "When we kissed in front of Weiss earlier…" she started contemplatively, "it felt  _really_  good, being free to just… be how we want to be. It was amazing not to have to worry about hiding," she said, grabbing her clothes. Blake nodded, humming softly in approval as she also started getting dressed. Yang gave another contemplative pause. "It made me think of… how I'd love to be able to, I don't know, sleep in the same bed, or just… just kiss you goodnight, you know?"

"That'd be lovely," she agreed absentmindedly, slipping into her stockings.

"Hence, I'm going to tell Ruby."

Blake turned to her in surprise. Yang stood motionless as she stared back, clad only in her black shorts and yellow tube top. Her skirt and belt were forgotten in her hands. She seemed to reconsider what she wanted to say, but this time for what felt to Blake like an unreasonably long time. Finally, Yang sighed. "I'm tired of pretending like nothing's going on and of… in a way, lying to her. Not to mention… It's unfair to keep her in the dark when Weiss knows."

"I agree, but I thought…" Blake paused, readjusting her white crop top distractedly. Her gaze fell on the ground, and she was very still for a few seconds. "I mean, telling Ruby," she cautiously stated, "that's not a small step to you."

"…It's not," she acknowledged, still unmoving. "But it's fine. I'm serious about you," Yang affirmed. "And I'm sick of hiding. There's no reason to hide."

As she stared at her partner, the dark-haired woman realized her vision had blurred. Her heart felt too big for her chest.

"Blake…?" She unsurely called, evidently disconcerted by her reaction. "Is that okay…? Are  _you_  fine with being open about this?"

She hummed in approval, doing her very best to get a hold of herself; she sniffed quietly and quickly blinked away the fogginess of her eyes as she slipped on her black vest. Only when she was certain speaking wouldn't instigate some form of emotional meltdown did she dare to resume. "Just how open did you want to be…?" She managed, still deeming her voice too unsteady for her liking. "Did you mean, not hiding when we're with Ruby and Weiss, or you meant… …more…?"

Yang pensively buckled her belt, the half-skirt attached to it not making any sort of difference in the decency of her outfit. She grabbed her scarf. "I meant all the time," she clarified. "I would rather  _really_  be… out. I don't want us to treat this like a dirty little secret, Blake, I… feel so lucky that we…" she held her breath a second. "…We're…" She trailed off for a second time, apparently undecided on what wording she was comfortable using. "A-and I have to admit I …I-I… don't want to have any reasons to be jealous again."

Blake could plainly read between the lines; by this, her partner implied among other things that she wanted to discourage Sun from making any further advances. "You realize some people may treat you differently?"

"As long as Ruby doesn't, I'm prepared," she answered, and she frankly, unashamedly held her gaze.

For a time, they simply stood staring at each other. They'd put most of their clothing on but finishing getting dressed had been forgotten. In the last lines they'd exchanged, it felt to Blake that what her lover was saying was that they were an item… without fully  _saying_  it. Was Yang telling her that she loved her too? Or was she not quite there yet, however still secure enough about becoming an item to overtly, publicly acknowledge the nature of their relationship? …Were they in a relationship? Blake couldn't seem to voice the question.

"…What are you going to tell your sister exactly…?" She ended murmuring, hoping for Yang to read the million questions hiding behind this one.  _What does that make us? You're making a commitment to me...right? Is this official?_   _Is there a 'we'?_ She needed to hear it voiced. If Yang wasn't able to tell her she loved her, at least Blake had to hear from her that they were an item, that they were  _something_. Otherwise, it didn't entirely feel real.

Yang sighed. "I'm not sure yet," she admitted, apparently thinking her words over very prudently. "…For one, I want to be with you all the time," she whispered, "and it's not going to go away. And... you're… really, you're all I ever think about." She paused. "And... I…" Her breath caught in her throat, and she started moving closer.

Blake knew what was supposed to come next, and she waited as the other woman stepped up close enough to take her hand in hers, watching her with wide eyes.

"... I…" Yang tried again, her gaze moving from the floor to around the room, stopping on the untidy bed sheets; she looked incredibly tense. "…I've never felt with anyone…" she trailed off. With a short exhalation and a nervous laugh, she ran a hand on the back of her head in her blonde mane, and she shook her head. "I don't know how this is so hard…" she admitted in apparent disbelief.

Blake felt herself smile. Even if her partner struggled, the message was clear, and she decided that pressuring it out of her wasn't what she wanted. In time, Yang would be comfortable saying what she had to say. Her heart still swelled with happiness. "It's okay if you're not ready, Yang," she gently offered. Leaning up to tenderly press her lips to hers had the blonde pull her in fiercely.

Her kiss burned with adoration, and her lips still brushed to hers as she spoke again. "You know, that I'm… …. …it doesn't mean that I don't…" Yang exhaled silently. Eyes closed, the blonde leaned her forehead to hers, evidently trying to gather herself. "It's just that… I always thought…it was fine if Ruby needed me—if other people needed me—because I knew I'd be there for them. Always," she started, her eyes fluttering open. "But I… It's just… I… I… never saw  _myself_  ever letting anyone so close that… _I_  would need  _them_ ," she confessed, holding her gaze with a vulnerability Blake hadn't yet witnessed in her exceedingly self-assured partner.

Somehow, Blake thought of that day they sat in the dusk-tinted classroom, of the first time her partner had truly opened up to her, and all the pieces seemed to fit together.

Right now, Yang was telling her that her stance had always been to be strong and unfaltering for others, without ever expecting anyone else to be there if  _she_  were to fall. And Blake now grasped that, whether Yang was aware of it or not, if she ended up this way, it was likely simply because the people she loved had left her wanting before. Her experiences had taught her not to depend on others because… even her parents hadn't been steadfast enough to count on.

So, though Yang was clearly aware that if what was happening between them was to take off, she'd need to take a leap of faith and allow herself to be vulnerable… letting her guard down remained a struggle. Overcoming her instincts, overcoming hard-wired responses surely couldn't be an easy task. Which brought them to now.

The clear amethyst saturated with emotion pulled Blake in, and she carefully cupped her partner's cheek. "I don't mind doing this one step at a time," she whispered encouragingly.

Yang pulled her a little closer. "But we've already been running full speed," she murmured with a bit of a trembling chuckle. "And now I… _need_ you, Blake, and… it's insanely stupid how much it scares me."

Affectionately stroking the soft skin of her cheek with her thumb, Blake gave her a lingering kiss from the tip of her lips. "It's not stupid," she countered. "Even if you hadn't told me about what happened when you were younger, I wouldn't have thought it was stupid for you to be scared of letting people in," she soothingly murmured, feeling Yang's hands around her waist clutch the fabric of her vest.

Blake's own slowly caressed down from her cheek to the back of her neck, gently massaging it underneath the thick mane of blonde locks. Her ears twitched under her bow; she could pick up their teammates' faint footsteps and voices down the hall. She knew they needed to wrap up this conversation for the time being.

"Yang," she resolutely breathed. "The last thing I want is for you to be uncomfortable or feel pressured. I'm happy to wait until you naturally get to a point you… can let me be strong for you in return," Blake reassuringly offered. Yang's fingers clutching the black fabric of her vest seemed to relax and the faunus's own fingers flowed out of the golden curls to hold her sturdy shoulders. "I love you, and I promise when you're ready, if you need me, I'll be there," she finished.

A spark ignited in her violet eyes, conviction, maybe. Or rather...  _complete_  faith in her, Blake realized, and Yang kissed her once more with such readiness, such earnestness, it gave the faunus the impression she wholly and unconditionally gave herself to her. Yet the footsteps quickly approaching detracted her from the moment. "Yang," she mouthed before the blonde again stole her lips. Blake had to faintly push on her shoulders. "They're almost here."

As if on cue, the click of the door unlocking forced them to break the kiss, and Yang stepped back, turning to glance at the door. The red blur she called her sister and the poised white silhouette that was her partner let themselves in.

"Yang!" Ruby hurried to her excitedly, not paying any attention to how both of them seemed to be missing pieces of their outfits. "Singles start soon! Are you ready? Make team RWBY look good! I can't wait to see you kick ass!"

As their short-haired leader fussed over her sister, pitching strategies and tips, Blake gave a quiet sigh, watching on. She'd wished they had a little more time, but she was already very thankful for the lovely moment they were able to share. She knew to count her blessings. 

She noticed the violet orbs stray her way as Yang listened to her sibling, and the dark-haired faunus offered her a veiled smile. What coursed between them felt so strong, it was almost tangible; her heart violently skipped. The blonde returned to Ruby's quasi-monologue, and Blake felt slight prodding on her arm, letting her notice Weiss nudging her with her elbow. Her white-haired teammate handed her the black sleeve Blake usually wore on her left arm. Mouthing a silent 'thank you', she subtly slipped it on.  
  
  


* * *

 

As the two of them made their way back to the arena, Yang thought to herself she might as well take this opportunity to talk to her sister. She  _really_  wanted to have this talk with her before things got to a point where Blake and she were cornered and absolutely  _had_  to tell her. Above all, she would loathe for Ruby to think she'd share this with her only out of need instead of out of her desire to tell her about something that made her so incredibly happy.

"…Ruby? There's something I need to talk to you about," Yang tentatively started.

Surprised by the uncharacteristically cautious tone of her voice, she turned to her sister. "Is something wrong, Yang?"

"Nothing's…  _wrong_ ," she sheepishly clarified, coming to a halt. "But there's just… a… sensitive matter I wanted to uh… …" she said, not quite sure how to broach this. Ruby's silver eyes curiously fixed on her were rapidly making her anxious, and Yang had to opt with cutting to the chase. Otherwise, she suspected her growing nervousness might deter her and she didn't want to let herself put this off even another day. She resumed walking as if to encourage herself to continue moving forward in the conversation too. "…How…" She paused once more, cleared her throat, her gaze flickering to the ground before she looked back up at her sister again. "Would you be weirded out if I wanted to be with Blake?"

Ruby scrunched up her nose lightly, looking straight ahead as they walked. "What? Aren't you two together, like,  _all the time_?" She then thought to herself for a second before she glanced at her sister. "Or did you mean you'd rather she had accompanied you backstage instead of me?"

Yang shook her head. "No. No, that's not what I meant," she quickly refuted. "I mean…" Holding her breath a second, she found interest in the ground once more. "By being with her I meant…" the brawler exhaled shakily; there was no way around it, she simply had to take the plunge. "…I meant, if I… had feelings for her. Beyond friendship. And wanted to…  _be_  with her. I mean together with her."

Ruby stopped in her track, her eyebrows now wrinkled in a cute frown; silver orbs curiously found her sister's. "…You mean…" She started, crossing her arms and cocking her head to the side. "…Do you mean… you…  _love_  her?" she carefully questioned. "Like…  _romantic_  love?"

Paralyzed by this so very honest question and the fear of what her sibling would think, Yang found herself unable to answer right away. The silence that settled between them along with her sudden awareness of how still they both were felt crushing. Her heart had leapt in her throat, beating so hard it reverberated through her whole body, and the blonde eventually  _somehow_  willed herself to speak. "…What if I did?" She questioned back. "I mean, I …I don't want to scare you or anything, but…" She exhaled shakily. "…What if I did?"

Ruby's frown deepened. "You're both girls."

Distress was starting to make her feel sick. "…Yeah," she still acknowledged.

There was a short silence in which she seemed to be working out whether Yang was serious or not, and Ruby appeared to conclude that her sister wasn't trying to pull any sort of prank on her, her expression turned positively impressed. " _Wow_. I never thought of that."

Completely taken aback, the blonde felt herself frown in turn. "…What?"

"Well, I don't know. It never crossed my mind it could happen?" her younger sibling tried explaining. "But in retrospect, it makes sense it'd happen sometimes."

So very unsure of the reaction she was getting, Yang blinked rapidly a few times. "…Okay, but… Is that something you'd mind? If I had a—… …girlfriend?"

Ruby stared back at her blankly. "Huh? Why would I mind?"

Now finding herself also blank and puzzled, the brawler didn't quite know what to make of this turn of events. "…I don't know," she admitted. "…I mean, it's not… conventional and stuff…"

"Humans and faunus together is also pretty uncommon, but you didn't ask about that," she pointed out.

"…I guess," Yang hesitantly conceded. "I just never imagined you could mind she's a faunus."

Ruby was now even more perplexed. "…If both are unconventional, why would I mind one but not the other?"

Returning her stare in baffled silence, Yang felt downright stupid for ever having been worried about her sister's reaction. What had she been so worked up about anyways? "…I don't know," she eventually answered. "I guess I thought… maybe?" She then tried. In all honestly, she couldn't think of any other argument but her sibling's initial surprise. "…I mean, you pointed it out yourself. That we're both girls. But not that she's a faunus."

"That's only because I've seen some human-faunus relationships before," Ruby explained, pursing her lips. "I mean, faunus rights are all over the news with how loud the White Fang's been lately, so lots of mix race couples are coming forward," she reminded her. "While two girls—or two boys? We don't really see or hear about that. It never crossed my mind that it happened."

"A lot of same-sex couples still hide. Some people are judgemental about that," Yang found herself explaining, still completely mystified with the turn of events.

She looked genuinely saddened to hear that. "That's so unfair!" she protested.

The tall blonde shrugged. "Yeah. But that's still how it is."

Pouting slightly, her silver eyes searched her sister's as she finally started to understand why Yang had a bit of reluctance broaching this with her. "So… you were worried I'd have a problem with you liking Blake?"

"Kinda," she admitted embarrassedly. A renewed vigour nevertheless swelled within her. It was a wonderful high, a vibrant elation that rose from the relief her sibling's response incited. "I mean, I thought most likely… it'd be okay, but I couldn't help but worry."

"I  _really_  don't get it." Ruby knit her brow again. "Why would it even be seen as a problem to start with?"

"…You know," Yang started, a candid smile rapidly growing on her features, "I think it's actually  _awesome_  that you don't get it," she offered, earning herself an even more puzzled look from her sister. After all, Ruby didn't understand why people would ever discriminate against same-sex relationships. It was because she saw it for what it was when it boiled down to it: just love between two people. Trying to make her understand what could be 'wrong' with them wasn't something Yang wanted to get into, and it wasn't something Ruby would be any better off actually understanding. "Forget I was ever worried about that," she said. "So, just…about Blake. If I… If I had feelings for Blake?"

Ruby smiled back at her as they resumed walking up to the gate. "You're serious?"

"I couldn't be more serious," she acquiesced.

"Yang," she said in as serious a tone as she could muster, "if I  _actually_  think about it, you being with anyone  _but_  Blake doesn't sound right. How did it even take so long?"

She gave a hearty laugh, throwing her arm around the short girl's shoulders. "Because I'm  _really_  dense."

The speakers came on, prompting the candidates to step out in the arena for the beginning of the singles matches.

Ruby pumped her fist in the air. "Okay! Initiating mission " _Seduce Blake"_!"

" _Initiating_?" Yang laughed again, tightening her squeeze around her sister's neck. "Rubes, this mission is  _well_  underway."

With a shocked… or maybe amazed scoff, round silver darted back to her. "What? What does  _that_  mean?"

Her grin widening, Yang chose to offer a wink as her answer. Let Ruby work out whatever she wanted from this. Before her sister could protest, she stepped out onto the arena, feeling like she could take on anything, feeling unstoppable and  _absolutely_  indestructible.  
  
  


* * *

 

She'd won the match.

It was close, but her partner had secured the victory for team RWBY. Yang turned to the crowd, pumping her fist in the air in triumph, and yet the next moment, her eyes dyed themselves a furious red. She violently hurled an unwarranted and devastating punch to the young man's leg.

Blake stared down at the scene, horrified.

Whatever violent impulse had possessed her seemed to vanish, and Yang stared around her, confused. Soldiers surrounded her in the blink of an eye, and she started trying to explain how  _he'd_  attacked  _her_ … while the oversized screens all around the stadium looped a replay of her brutal and gratuitous strike to a vulnerable opponent. When she appeared to notice herself on the screens, Yang looked at a complete loss; she let herself be removed from the arena.

All this was too sickeningly, too  _horrifyingly_  familiar— Blake sunk back in her chair. Many times, she'd refused to associate the blonde's impulsivity and explosive temper to her ex-partner's violent urges, but… she'd abruptly felt a powerful kick to her stomach. She had blinded herself to Adam's behavior before, and she was mortified at the possibility that she just might be doing the same with her current partner. What if she'd been making the same mistake again? Did she find herself trusting someone who wasn't who she wished they were? Was she purposely seeing only what she wished to see?

At once, she doubted  _everything_. She wondered how impartial she'd truly been concerning the blonde… if maybe being so head over heels in love with her had caused Blake to deliberately overlook signs or willfully ignore red flags. If maybe in all this, she'd discounted indications,  _omens_  that something like this would eventually happen. The faunus's mind filled itself with the raw violence in the way Yang would sometimes attack enemies; the way she had been ferociously tearing through Ursa on that day they'd become partners, or the way she'd thrown herself at the paladin, ramming it repeatedly with a seemingly mindless urge to destroy. That rage, that fire,  _literally_  seeing red, was undeniably part of the blonde and, sickeningly distressed, Blake found herself wondering… had she been blinding herself to other instances of this violence? … to more unethical or vicious behaviors? Did she miss anything? Was history repeating itself?

It was a brooding atmosphere that heavily hung over the three of them in the dorms as they had returned without their fourth member. The Atlesian army had opted to keep her in custody overnight while the tournament committee decided on the best course of action. There wasn't much chatting between the team. The shock of the events and the void left by their missing teammate was eerie. Ruby had short outbursts, insisting this wasn't like her sister at all, that something had gone wrong, that something must've been controlling her; she'd been grasping at a million straws to explain Yang's alarming behavior. Weiss dully acknowledged their leader's countless hypotheses, but ultimately only graced her with answers along the lines of "I believe in her too, but we need to hear what she has to say." Meanwhile, Blake stayed silent.

Going to bed that night was excruciatingly painful. Yang's smell lingering in her bed kept her awake, tormenting her with memories of whispers of love, of the suffocating happiness just a few hours earlier. And then only to be cruelly reminded again of the violence that'd wrapped up the evening.

Blake could barely get any sleep, and it was clear her teammates didn't fare much better. Their short haired leader was up at the crack of dawn, pacing around the room, checking her scroll, going back to the windows to scrutinize the imposing airships of the Atlesian army, going over the same arguments and theories she'd pitched before they'd gone to bed. Her white-haired teammate kept vaguely responding to each point her partner came up with. Blake pretended to sleep. She didn't want to talk about it. She didn't want them to see how she couldn't help doubting her own lover.

She was only able to will herself out of bed to get dressed when Ruby received news they would be getting their teammate back shortly.

It was James Ironwood who personally escorted her back to their quarters. Ruby threw herself at the blonde, and all her questions, all her speculations were pouring out before either Yang or the general were able to say anything. With her sister still hanging onto her, Yang sat on Weiss's bed. Then she proceeded to recount her own version of the events, what she saw, or at least, what she insisted she saw. Blake wanted to believe her. She wanted to believe that the light she saw in her partner was true, she wanted to believe in that welcoming warmth she felt when Yang embraced her, in that radiant smile she fell in love with, in that  _goodness_ , that genuine kind-heartedness and compassion that had made her golden partner so special to her. Moreover, Yang was such a horrible liar, Blake believed they would have been able to tell if she'd been lying, and right in this moment, it looked to all of them that she was telling the entire, unaltered truth. General Ironwood looked a little deflated, having obviously heard her story already, and all things said, having announced the disqualification of their team, he finally left them to themselves.

After a short silence, Yang pitifully raised her gaze to the three of them. "You guys believe me... right?" She tried, her voice uncharacteristically insecure.

Ruby's answer was instant. "Duuh!"

Weiss nodded along with her partner. "You're hot-headed, but not ruthless," she firmly agreed.

As her amethyst eyes fell on the faunus, and dreadful silence stretched, chilling the room.

Yang frowned somewhat unsurely. "...Blake?" She tried feebly.

Out of the corner of her eye, Blake saw Ruby and Weiss quickly glance at each other in confusion, and as she turned back to her, her white teammate's gaze bore into her. Weiss, probably due to her personal investment in them as their confidante, with her front seat in the latest developments of their budding relationship, seemed to be taking Blake's reservations as a personal affront.

Blake looked back up at her partner, at the woman she loved. "I  _want_  to believe you...!" She exclaimed, trying  _so hard_  to convey how she  _honestly_  resented herself for even doubting her.

"What's that's supposed to mean?" Weiss angrily spat with a roll of her eyes.

At this point, Yang was succumbing to tears she evidently had been desperate to suppress. "…Blake?" She called again, in a voice weaker than Blake ever thought she'd hear from her. The unambiguous distress in her voice was heartbreaking.

Upset with herself, upset with the turn of events, Blake felt herself frown in frustration. She broke eye contact for a second time, unable to sustain the pain her lover openly expressed.

Their friend sitting beside her went from irate to livid. "How can you say something like that!" Weiss blurted, insulted on Yang's behalf. "Yang would  _never_  lie to us!" she reminded her.

Blake gave her white teammate a glance before sighing, returning her eyes to the ground. "I had someone very dear to me change," she offered, deciding that there was no going around explaining that part of her past to her team. "It wasn't in an instant," she carefully said, her eyes drifting back up to wander around the room. "It was gradual. Little choices that began to pile up," she explained. "He told me not to worry. At first, they were accidents... Then it was self-defense," she muttered bitterly, unwilling to go into details. She felt so foolish for not having instantly recognized her ex-partner's actions for what they had been. "Before long, even I began to think he was right!" She added, in disbelief with herself, at how she'd let herself be duped, at how she was now so terrified of repeating the same mistake, it instilled doubts concerning the person she loved above all. Blake searched her clear violet eyes, hoping for her feelings to come across—to reach her. "This is all just... very... familiar!"

Yang had been staring at the ground as the dark-haired faunus explained this, tears rolling down her cheeks. With this pause, the amethyst orbs glided back up to the golden ones. Blake could read it plain and clear: betrayal.

She wanted nothing more but to make her understand she  _knew_  this situation was different, that she knew her fear was somewhat irrational in its own right—Yang didn't have a drop of cruelty or malice in her and Blake  _knew_  that.

"But you're not him, and you've never done anything like this before," she therefore granted. "So… I  _want_  to trust you," she concluded, her stare finding the ground. What was she saying? She didn't simply  _want_  to trust her. "I  _will_  trust you," Blake said in a stronger voice, looking back up at the blonde brawler. As she did so, somehow, for a heartbeat, she remembered the way her eyes would turn red with rage, and in that second, her own resolve vacillated for a second. Blake breathed out. "…But first," she unsteadily added, "I need you to look me in the eyes and tell me that  _he_  attacked  _you_ ," she requested. "I need you to  _promise_  me that you regret having to do what you did."

Yang wiped her cheeks and sniffed. "I saw him attack me, so I attacked back," she reiterated.

She was telling the truth. If Blake knew  _anything_  about her partner, she could tell she was telling the truth. Or at least, what she unfalteringly believed to be the truth. So Blake decided something else, maybe an external force had to be at play, and she would believe her. Closing her eyes, Blake mustered up a smile before glancing back up at the woman she loved. "Okay. Thank you."

Her decision to put her faith in her didn't appear to weigh much against the fact that she'd doubted her in the first place; Yang still looked utterly miserable. She let her gaze drift to the floor. "I think I'm gonna rest up," she said, so uncharacteristically disheartened.

This was an obvious request to be left alone, and Blake wasn't the only one to pick up on it. The three of them seemed to stand up at once. "We'll get out of your hair," she offered gently.

As they exited and met up with their friends in the corridor, Blake felt sick to her stomach. She hated having doubted her and even more how she'd hurt her. She'd never seen the blonde so heartbroken before… and yet  _she_  was the one who was to blame. She barely listened to the exchange with team JNPR, finding herself too concerned with how this would affect her relationship with her partner to quite listen—the million questions on her mind  _plagued_  her.

Would her lover still want to open up to her again with this strain on them? Did she sabotage the progress they'd made just yesterday? Would Yang refrain from leaning on her now? …Would she rethink… coming out to her sister about their relationship? Would she back out of making it official? …Would what they had even continue? Were her explanations enough for Yang to forgive her? When would she have the opportunity to tell her how she reviled the instincts Adam had left her with? Would telling Yang… everything that Adam had done help her understand Blake's hesitations? Or maybe she should tell Yang what he'd done to Blake herself…? But then Yang would likely be even  _more_  hurt that Blake ever thought she could be like him, wouldn't she? But how to justify her own insecurities without explaining what abuse she'd been subjected to?

Her mind was unreeling with questions she hadn't been ready to start thinking of and her heart was nauseatingly constricted in her chest. Blake had still somehow followed along the conversation with their friends to be able to decline watching any more of the tournament's matches when her friends started talking about Pyrrha's. The redhead's own match would be taking place in only a few hours, but the faunus couldn't stomach any more action.

It came as a small surprise that Weiss declined as she had, agreeing she'd also seen enough of the fighting. Blake had known her white-haired teammate had followed Pyrrha's prowess since even before they'd all entered Beacon Academy; she therefore had expected her to be very excited about watching that match. It was only as the pale blue eyes fell on her and Weiss offered her to grab a hot drink, that Blake understood her friend was being just that… a friend. Weiss could likely see how distraught she was, and she simply wouldn't leave her by herself to brood this strain on her relationship with Yang. The faunus offered her a small smile, accepting her offer.  
  


* * *

  
Seeing the horrors outside, Yang put her mulling on the backburner. Her first reflex was to check on Ruby, but to no avail—the line didn't even connect. Before she could move on to call her partner, her scroll lit up with the image of the dark-haired faunus. Intense relief washed over her; both that Blake was safe, but also that they were able to set aside for the time being what had happened. She'd been somewhat scared that there would be a rift, that Blake really didn't truly trust her and she might distance herself from her… but hearing from her, hearing the concern in her voice, hearing that she  _cared_ , invigorated Yang, and as she ran out of the dorms, she set up vague plans to meet up with both her teammates at the docks.

The influx of Grimm forced her to end the call, and though she had trusted she'd be able to join her partner fast enough, she found herself fighting her way through more Grimm than she could ever have expected. As she finally approached the docks, there was loud battling that drew her to the conclusion of a confrontation with a Paladin. She found in relief her white-haired teammate safe and sound. Exhausted, yes, but unharmed.

"Weiss!" She called, running up to her. "You're okay!" She exclaimed, resisting the urge to smother her into a hug. Her friend  _did_  look like she needed all the air and space she could get, with the way she was so heavily leaning on her weapon. "Have you heard from Ruby?

Panting, Weiss gave a weak shake of her head, indicating she hadn't.

Yang chewed on her lower lip for a second. "…What about Blake?" She asked more softly; she could've sworn Blake had been with their friend when they'd called each other earlier.

Still bent over, the snow-haired lady pointed in a vague direction. "She went after an alpha," she managed, letting her arm drop limply, "…and some members of the White Fang…"

A foreboding impression took hold of her, and in that instant, something shifted inside of Yang. "You look for Ruby. I'll meet up with Blake," she found herself saying as she took off, barely registering Weiss giving her a thumb up.

Her split-second decision leadened her stomach with guilt. For the first time in her life, she'd put someone else's safety over her sister's. She tried rationalizing that Blake was probably getting herself in trouble with the White Fang, that Jaune and Pyrrha were nowhere to be seen either, and so Ruby was likely with them. She'd then tell herself she trusted Weiss enough to entrust Ruby's safety to her, or even that Blake likely needed her more than Ruby did right now.

…But all this she knew were excuses. She'd chosen Blake over Ruby simply because… Blake had become more important.

Yang rammed her fist into a Beowulf, screaming for her partner, trying to ignore the guiltiness and shame she felt; Ruby shouldn't come second. Ruby should  _never_  come second to anyone. She had sworn to herself so many years ago that she'd keep her safe, that she'd take her fears away, that she'd make her life warm and  _gold_.

…And yet.

"Blake!" She screamed, recklessly tearing through anything that stood in her way. And as she ran, as she pulverised Grimm after Grimm, she seemed to come more and more aware of the scenes of carnage around her. Bodies. Most mauled by the soulless beasts roaming the school grounds, but also some humans that had been shot at, even sliced through. And in the bloodbath caused by monsters in white masks, both the soulless beasts and faunus radicals, Yang was terrifyingly aware that most of them were not bodies of Huntsmen or soldiers… but civilians and  _students_. Panic quickly started seeping into her bones, and she ran faster, so fast her lungs burned. She blasted fire dust rounds at Grimm, decimating anything that stood in her path, and her throat hurt from calling for the woman she realized had become the most important person in her life.

"Blake?!" She cried again, frantically scanning her surroundings for her. Then she caught a glimpse of scintillating red, a blade moving down, and she realized in horror what the man holding the sword had just done.

They say that when you're dying, your life flashes in front of your eyes. Yang guessed if that was truly the case… that red sword, as it buried itself in Blake's stomach, may very well have been killing  _her_  too, because every moment she had spent with her partner, every kiss, every laugh,  _everything_  seemed to come to her at once.

The world fell completely silent as Blake reached out towards her, mouthing something the blonde couldn't make out, and in that instant, Yang knew to the very bottom of her  _soul_  that… may it be laying down her own life or even taking someone else's, she knew without a shadow of a doubt that there was  _nothing_  she wouldn't do for her. Along with this, the single overpowering regret that now just might haunt her forever: she should've told her she loved her.

Yang's eyes watered, and unequivocal, consummate, blindingly pure  _rage_  promptly took over. "GET AWAY FROM HER!"

The scorching intensity, the fire engulfing her, her eyes turning blindingly red with fury; Yang had always enjoyed fighting, but what overcame her then held nothing positive. It was an urge to destroy like she'd never experienced before. And as she tore through the distance between her and that masked demon, she channelled every ounce of her strength into her hit with the firm intent to utterly  _pulverize_  him.

When she opened her eyes next, she was on an airship. She didn't know how she had gotten there, and she didn't care- the first thing on her mind was Blake. Blake had gotten stabbed. She started sitting up, but the searing sensation on her right and the lack of support as she tried to move both hands to sit up woke her up in a different way. There was absolutely  _no_ support on her right side as she tried to prop herself up. Her right arm wouldn't obey her. Petrified, she laid still in the makeshift bed, the throbbing pain radiating from her right arm pulsating through her whole body and a splitting headache threatening to crush her. Her eyes finally adjusted to the darkness and glaring red of the emergency lights. She noticed Qrow drowsily sitting on her left and sleeping in another makeshift bedding on the other side of him was Ruby. Ruby looked unharmed as she slept.

The pain on her right was unimaginable. Now staring distraughtly up at the metal ceiling of the ship, Yang tried to move her fingers. She couldn't even tell if they were moving at all. The ache was so overpowering and consuming that she couldn't feel anything else. She stared out into space for a while, anxious. Her body felt so cold, and yet nauseating waves of heat would overtake her. Her stomach and throat were so constricted, they hurt. The pain from her right side. The horrendous,  _excruciating_  pain. She gave a shaky sigh, and it took another long moment before she steeled herself to witness the extent of the damage. Glancing down had her realize in horror that most of her arm was missing; not bent, crooked, or even shredded… but… downright  _missing_.

"…No…" The chocked mutter of disbelief escaped her, and she frenziedly grasped at the void on her right side. "NO!"

Her sudden outburst shocked Qrow awake, and though he was talking to her, she couldn't seem to make out his words. She was crying, and she couldn't focus, and she felt  _sick_  with the overwhelming pain or the high stress this panic induced on her already battered body or maybe also the revulsion at the horror of what had happened. She pressed her left hand over her mouth, trying to calm down, trying to steel herself, yet sobbing and gagging and she had no idea where it came from but suddenly she had her face over a trash can and Qrow was holding her hair.

She'd barely eaten the day before so nothing but bile came out as she heaved, the cramp of her stomach almost distracting her momentarily from the vicious pain on her right side. She gagged and lurched forward for a second time, spewing up more bile, feeling her body spasm with the pain until all she could do was cough harshly, clutching her stomach with her one arm. When she finally seemed to be able to breathe again, regaining some control, she spat, and her body relaxed at once, completely drained and dizzy. Qrow wiped her mouth and nose with a towel before compelling her to lie back down.

And then she thought of Blake once more, of the image of the red blade slicing into her, and she suddenly sat up again, somehow finding some desperate strength, her alarmed gaze found her uncle's startled one.

"Again?" He reached for the bin by the side of the bed.

"Where's Blake…?" She croaked, utterly terrified of the answer she may get. "Is she…?" she couldn't even finish her sentence.

His features softened, forcing her on her back once more. "She's okay," Qrow's raspy voice offered. "Better off than you."

She passed out again.

The uncomfortable swaying of being transported out of the ship was what had her regain consciousness. She stared at the back of the stranger who was lugging one end of the improvised stretcher she was on. The pain searing of her arm called for attention, and Yang refused to let her eyes wander to the now permanent void on her right side. The deafening noise around them, loud voices, whir of the large engines and people hurrying left and right didn't faze her. This was a bad dream, she tried telling herself. She'd be waking up any moment.

Once disembarked, Qrow had the men helping him with Ruby and her set them in as quiet of a space as they could find. Everything was hazy. Her uncle said something about finding out which aircraft could make the trip home, to Patch, and she was left alone. Well, not  _alone_. Her attention fell on Ruby, sleeping, maybe comatose. Yang cautiously brushed bangs from her face and checked her breathing before returning her gaze to the uproar around them.

As faint details of the commotion, of the utter chaos, came to her attention, she was forced to acknowledge the atrocious reality. This wasn't a dream. This was as true as it got.

She dazedly watched as Qrow quickly exchanged words with different people. She recognized some students, people she'd cross path with in the school halls, making their way through the crowd, trying to find their way to safety. She saw Cardin and Velvet sticking to each other's side as both of them evidently had lost sight of their teams… and with the horrors that they'd experienced,  _any_  familiar face would be of comfort. She then caught a glimpse of a tall man dressed in white heatedly reprimanding her white-haired teammate in the distance. The following moment, he roughly grabbed her arm and dragged her aboard a Schnee dust company private jet. It's not like Yang had the energy to move, and they were much too far for her voice to carry to them, so she passively watched, pushing away the intrusive doubt of whether she'd ever see her friend again.

And in truth, something else haunted her too obsessively much as she watched the agitation, as she watched the people running left and right. She scrutinized the chaos, but in vain; no sign of Blake. Less and less familiar faces. Some emergency airships were taking off, medical personnel and officers were starting to organize the crowd and Yang was feeling sick again as desperation was suffocating her. Until she  _did_  spot another familiar face, and knew that if anyone might know her dark-haired partner's whereabouts, it would be him.

"Sun!" She called as loudly as she could manage, hoping her parched throat would let her sore voice carry through the turmoil.

To her relief, the blond faunus heard her and, with a quick signal to his team to stay put, promptly jogged over. "Yang…" He sighed, crouching by her side. His gaze instantly moved from her features to her missing arm. He uncomfortably looked away to Ruby resting by her. "Everyone's leaving. We're not sure if Vale will keep standing now that Beacon fell."

She already knew that. That hadn't been why she'd called him, and she cut to the chase without hesitation. "Blake? Have you seen her?"

It seemed to her that he'd known she'd ask about her partner. His dark blue eyes appeared conflicted, and it looked like he was weighing what he'd say. The short silence, his hesitation to answer, let her understand that he knew what had happened with Blake, yet as he failed to answer right away, Yang felt the blood drain from her face.

"Sun?" Fear made her nauseated and the chills it brought made her tremble lightly. Had Qrow lied to her earlier? Did he simply attempt to have her settle down? Was her partner, her  _lover_ , even alive? She knew her sickening apprehension reflected on her features, yet still, the blonde young man just stared at her impenetrably. " _Sun_ ," she pressed. "What about Blake? Is she safe?"

"Blake disappeared," Sun finally said. "She got first aid and made sure… _you_  were in good hands, then in the confusion, she just...slipped away," he explained. The way he looked at her was borderline accusatory.

She was hearing the words, but she couldn't seem to understand them. Her eyebrows twitched in a frown for a heartbeat, then she decided this was way impossible, it was insane, it was just  _unbelievable_. Her expression returned to a more impassive one. "No," she flatly said.

Sun frowned, unsure, and they stared at each other in silence for an extensive moment. "What do you mean,  _no_?" He finally questioned tentatively.

"I mean no," Yang heard herself say, without really knowing what she was arguing for. "No, that's just—it's—it just can't be, so  _no_ ," she ranted, feeling her throat tighten.

Eventually, he tried again, his voice a little hesitant. "Before the airships got there, when you were still passed out… at some point, she sneaked off," he explained. "I don't even know if she evacuated Beacon along with everyone."

The strangling sensation in her throat spread to her chest. "That's crazy," she argued, remembering how Blake had been  _stabbed_. "Why would she not evacuate?"

"…I don't know, she left before the airships got there," he repeated.

As he reiterated what she absolutely didn't want to process, the words hit her with more violence than a thousand red blades could have, and Yang felt too many things at once; a savage kick to the stomach, a flash of dizzying heat and the iciness chilling her spine that made her entire body contract painfully, a hollowness in her chest. With sudden desperation and misdirected anger, she abruptly grabbed onto his shirt. "What do you mean she  _left_?!" She barked. "Where did she go!?"

"I don't know, she didn't tell anyone," he defensively answered, completely taken aback by how appallingly poorly she was handling the news. "She just… left," he said a touch more carefully, making her release him. "She's gone."

She stared at him emptily.

Because Blake couldn't  _really_  have left… could she? Something in her tried screaming from deep down that she  _should_  believe in Blake, because Blake had decided to trust her too when her own demons had surfaced. But Yang also knew that… Blake knew as well as she did that with everything that was happening, getting separated now meant being indefinitely separated. If Blake had nevertheless mustered whatever energy her wound had left her with to  _leave_ … then division was her deliberate intent.

Violet eyes drifted to the chaos around them, at the hundreds of bodies hurrying left and right, too resentfully aware of the absence of the stark shadow that was her partner. She could taste bile in her mouth.

'… _Really, Blake? Like this? Without even a word_?'

Yang couldn't tell what it was exactly that she was feeling.

The pain that'd irradiated on her right side seemed to rapidly be overpowered by the one tearing her ribcage; it had become impossible to breathe. Too many emotions threatened to drown her. Hadn't Blake promised just  _yesterday_ … that she'd be there? With what happened, how could she not know that Yang needed her now more than ever? More than she likely ever would have in the future, even? Then  _why_  would she leave?

Yang sharply managed to inhale a choked breath; she came aware of the tears that started rolling down her cheeks as her vision was left unclouded for a short second.

As Sun manifestly understood she was about to crumble, maybe wanting to leave her some privacy, he stood once more. "…I have to go too," He awkwardly said, and his stare flickered down to her arm for a second. "Take care," he finished, jogging back to the three other guys. With only a few words to them, he went off on his own.

The void inside her now muted the rest of the world.

As she looked down on the inert body of her sister, she noticed her tears hitting the asphalt like raindrops. Yang realized she had no desire to cling to her sleeping sibling for comfort; she wanted to be alone. She never wanted to need anyone again, and she never again wanted to hide her pain behind the mask of a smile… not even for Ruby's sake. Everything was  _not_  okay. And it wasn't going to be. She had no strength left to try and convince herself otherwise. Yang slowly, so slowly, laid on her back again, staring out at the light of dawn starting to break through the obscurity of the sky above her. This light chasing away the shadows around them was absolutely no help with the darkness rapidly engulfing her. She scrunched her one hand over her face as sobs started to rack her body, finally catching up to the tears.  
  


* * *

 

It had been four months.

The stitches on her stomach had left a sensitive scar; she'd learned to be careful when she moved. Blake had stayed hidden in Vale in the ruins of what used to be the grounds of Beacon Academy, doing what she could to clear out endless waves of Grimm. As she lurked the premises, she would regularly see joined forces of local huntsmen, the academy's teachers, and even some students doing the same as her, hunting the Grimm, trying to eradicate the menace, trying in what more and more seemed like a vain effort to restore the institute to its former glory. Grimm kept coming endlessly. Blake had sometimes helped from the shadows the teams she'd come across, but mostly, she stayed clear of any group of people. She didn't want to connect with any of them. In part because she didn't want to grow attached to any of them, but mainly, she… didn't want to even attempt filling the void that was left in her without her friends, without her beloved partner. The gash that was left inside of her, the gaping hole left where her heart used to be, the agony of its hollowness, the ache of loneliness…she deserved it all.

From her vantage point, golden eyes followed a group of veteran huntsmen as they trailed masked fiends in the darkness. She gave a quiet sigh, looking around. No matter their own numbers, no matter how hard they struggled against the Grimm, they had yet to secure any significant grounds of the school so ceaseless the monsters seemed to be;  _months_  of fighting… and there was no end in sight.

Blake wasn't entirely sure herself why she'd remained for so long. Part of her had wanted to atone for the atrocities committed by the White Fang, both the direct massacre of humans and for flying the soulless beasts inside the territory. Blake had also told herself remaining at ground zero would keep  _him_  away from the people she loved. It might have been the bigger part of what had kept her there. There undeniably was also that she wanted to keep her mind busy - trying not to think of her now broken team. Trying  _so hard_  not to remind herself that she couldn't even  _think_  of approaching Yang, not before she was  _certain_  that Adam or the White Fang wouldn't be a threat anymore. His words would perpetually echo in her head, seared in her mind as if they had been carved in her with his red sword.

_I will destroy everything you love. Starting with her._

Had her feelings been so obvious he had known from a simple glance?

Her eyes found the CCT tower for what must have been the hundredth time today only, probably the millionth time this month. The picture of the Grimm dragon frozen into that imposing tower was horrifying, and though by now they understood that it was to blame for Grimm still being attracted to Beacon to this day, they had yet to find a way to resolve this. Staring at the tower for a while, her gaze, as always, drifted to the neighbouring buildings.

She had avoided approaching any of the school edifices in favour of defending the surrounding territories, ones that used to be lined with borders impervious to Grimm. Her heart constricted in her chest when her attention fell on the dormitories.

After months of steering clear, she had no will left to resist, and Blake leaped towards the familiar buildings. Embedding Gambol Shroud high in the tree that stood by the window of what had been team RWBY's old dorm room, she swung her body weight up its trunk to one of the largest branches. The window had been left wide open, a dark gash in the wall, and yet Blake could see the outlines of the familiar furniture inside. She remembered the last time she was in this room, how she'd left the blonde to brood the events of the tournament… the heartache she'd caused the person she loved the most when she didn't readily trust her. With this, she had a fleeting realization that the last one who'd been in there before the tragedy, before everyone had to evacuate… was Yang.

With a shaky exhalation, knowing full well how unprepared she was to face the haunting memories of happiness she'd made there, Blake still leaped from the tree to their room. She had to steel herself before she looked around, and still, finding herself standing between the two makeshift bunk-beds jolted her with a million memories of better days. Her throat was so tied it hurt, her body felt numb. She wanted to attribute the sting in her eyes to the dust she'd raised as she landed in the room, but she knew better. She slowly moved around this so painfully familiar space, noticing how dust and soot had started settling probably faster than it should have thanks to the windows being left open. Everything was still exactly as they'd left it. The clothes in the drawers, the books on the dusty shelves, the heap of white suitcases in a corner, the paintings and… posters… Blake's gaze strayed to the improvised bunk-beds, specifically to the one that was shakily held up by stacks of books. Visions of her blonde partner…no,  _ex_ -partner's euphoric smile as they kissed, as Blake whispered her love to her had her stiffen completely.

Holding her breath, wary of her own memories, of  _herself_ , she nevertheless stepped closer. Her limbs weakened with the suffocating emotions, Blake carefully sat on what was once her bed. Her throat was painfully knotted, her palms clammy, her fingers cold; she gently touched the covers. For a second, she could  _see_  Yang under her, the playful gleam in her gorgeous violet eyes, the flush of her skin caused by her climax… Blake could almost feel her amazingly soft, smoldering skin and the generous curves of her firm body. The dark, abandoned room suddenly felt so much colder, so unbearably hollow. Instinctively, looking for comfort, Blake found herself crawling in her bed, curling into a fetal position… and abruptly realized what a mistake this was with the way Yang's smell  _still_  lingered faintly all over the beddings.

Blake was utterly powerless to stop herself from collapsing. She cried harder than she ever had in her life. Harder than when she had resolved to break with her own family to pursue what she'd thought was right. Harder than when she'd realized the man she trusted and admired the most, her mentor, had become… or possibly had  _always been_  a monster. She cried harder than when she had left those very ideals she'd been fighting so fiercely for her  _whole life_  behind. Blake was gasping for air, hiccupping between sobs; all those times had been nothing compared to how hard she'd cried  _then_ … when she had apologized incoherently to the nearly lifeless blonde bleeding out from that atrocious mutilation  _or_  the dawn following that same horrific night, as she watched the evacuation planes leave from afar, knowing full well she may never see her friends, her team,  _her love_  ever again. And yet somehow, as the reality of her situation was crashing down on her, right now, the pain, the guilt, the tears were even  _worse_.

In these months roaming the ruins of Beacon, of the place she'd been the happiest she could remember… all she'd done was put her life on pause. She hadn't grieved any of the events that had gone down that night, and  _everything_  crashed on her at once. How she'd been trying to avoid thinking of how the White Fang, which she had once believed in so fiercely, had become such a monstrosity that'd been responsible for destroying what she'd come to love above everything else. Trying to avoid thinking of what then, of what  _now_. Trying to avoid thinking of her loneliness, of how she'd abandoned everyone. Of how…  _betrayed_  Yang must've felt. Of how she probably  _hated_  her now.

Good. She  _should_  hate her.

The pillow smelled like her golden hair and Blake clutched it suffocatingly against herself as she curled in the bed, somehow crying even harder. She deserved to be hated. The wound Yang had sustained was life-altering. It was something she may very well take  _years_  to recover from. She may never have the ability or the  _will_  to fight again… she may never again find that beautiful fire of hers. And it was Blake's fault.

Beyond that, the utter betrayal Yang must have felt. Never mind Blake not having believed in her readily about the match… that breach of trust seemed so insignificant compared to how much more massively Blake had failed her when she left. The blonde had been  _terrified_  of her feelings, and though Blake had very well understood it was mostly because her partner had been scarred by being abandoned, it  _still_  hadn't prevented Blake from leaving. Her fear of what Adam could do, or maybe… the shame she felt thinking of facing Yang when  _she_ 'd been the reason the blonde had been mutilated so horrendously had outweighed everything else.

As she'd left, she'd desperately tried not to think of how Yang had already been permanently scarred by what had happened in her childhood. She'd tried not to wonder if, tearing open that wound as she had, the damage she'd done could  _ever_  be healed. She'd most likely never get to find out. Because surely, Yang would never want anything to do with her ever again. Blake couldn't breathe.

Everything felt pointless. She didn't know what to do anymore or where to go. The four months she'd remained around Beacon in this senseless,  _insane_  quest to try and eradicate every coming waves of Grimm in a self-flagellating act of voluntary penance had been meaningless. She'd accomplished nothing. She hadn't made any difference in the current state of the Vale kingdom,  _and_  she'd known. She'd understood this was pointless since the first weeks, yet she kept charging head down. It had all served nothing but trying to help ease her self-loathing, trying to run from her guilt, from the pervasive thoughts plaguing her. And now she realized… she had run from her sorrow, run from moving on, run from starting to think of the future—she hadn't wanted to think of the future.

But time kept moving, and whether she wanted it or no, it wouldn't wait for her. Blake blinked back another oncoming assault of emotions and tears. She didn't want things to end like this. She didn't want her life to have meant nothing, to have been useless, to have only amounted in pain for others. She was terrified of eventually making a mistake and dying stupidly and alone against some Grimm. She  _couldn't_  let this be the end.

It felt like life was suddenly coursing through her veins again.

She couldn't stay in Vale, she realized. She couldn't come back to this room; if she did, she'd be forever trapped in a rut. She'd be forever condemned to relive these last moments here, both the best and the worst of her life. She had to gather herself—she  _had_  to leave if she ever were to start moving forward, if she ever were to start healing, if she ever wanted to accomplish anything worthwhile. If she didn't want Yang to have sacrificed so much in vain.

Blake sat up in her bed.

Trying to think of what now made her too aware she'd broken with everything that she ever had. She made herself alone. Completely alone. She'd run from her family and run from the White Fang and run from… she'd run again. She had run until she was nothing but a strayed, broken shell of herself. There was nothing she yearned more than for somewhere she could rest. For someone who'd welcome her. She exhaled shakily. If she wanted to start making things right, if she were to find any solid ground, if she were to gather any strength again… if she wanted to start healing... she had to rebuild from the bottom.

_Home_ , Blake thought.

No… Home is where the heart is.

_Home_ … she mused, was now probably with the golden beauty.

Her legs almost seemed to be giving out as she stood. Where she was going would be so she could start by finding herself again. She needed to go back to the start.  
  
  


**tbc  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not usually able to update fics as fast as this… but this is a revision of already existing chapters, and I was able to work on those on a week of vacation I had. :’)  
> The next chapter is also nearly done, to be expected next week!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! It's been a year and a half since I released new content for this fic! What I'd been posting up until here had been a revision of a story I had already posted on FF.NET. This is now new content. 
> 
> I had been uncertain if I wanted to keep following the canon-verse or if I wanted to branch out from there, and I ultimately decided to branch out. As of today (10/19/2018) – V6 hasn't started airing yet.  
> The reasons I decided to branch out was that, first, I would eventually have to anyways. When actual romance starts developing on the show between them, then this story won't fit the canon. Second, I wanted to render my own version of The Talk, and I wanted to release this chapter before V6 airs because I know very well that I'd otherwise have been tempted to scrap everything and follow canon hahaha. I really wanted to write my own version because – and this is not a criticism against the show—I know that The Talk might be glossed over on in canon. After all, romance isn't the main point of the story, there's a ton of other things going on, and they have such limited time to accomplish it all. On my part, I also wanted to give avid bees fans the delicious pain of angst they've been craving that the show may not deliver.
> 
> That said, I hope I'm able to satiate that craving! I hope you enjoy :')

 

 

 

Haven was within half a day's sail.

As Blake made her way back to the quarters she shared with her friends, restlessness and trepidation permeated the air on the ship. The fighting-fit faunus of Menagerie, who'd previously been so reluctant, even loathe to get involved in the fight were now buzzing with fervent anticipation, avid for action and impatient to make their stand.

She'd spent the last day going through the crowds from room to room in an attempt to oversee the last of their preparations and in hopes of making herself available to anyone who needed more guidance or who still had questions. Though with the goal almost in sight, she felt the need to regroup herself; maybe try to get some rest, but mostly to get back to her friends for her own personal support. She might have turned to her parents, but between them dividing their attention to their troops the same way she had been and the vague thought that her friends might need her too, she opted to try and find them. She had to admit however, it truly was surreal to see her parents man the front lines again, showing this passion and dedication she'd feared they'd lost when her father had stepped from leadership of the White Fang to settle in a quieter life in Menagerie.

It was empowering and energizing to have not only found her roots again, but also feel like she was marching, no running full speed in the right direction for once and not only that, but things might actually be going her way.

She almost felt strong enough to venture into thinking about what would inevitably come next.

Once they'd stopped the coup on Haven -because they would absolutely stop it, she wholly believed they would-, once the faunus had shown they wanted to stand undivided alongside the human race, that they were willing to step up and fight the  _true_  enemy, the one who was festering inside their own ranks... Once all that would have transpired, in a matter of hours, then… the next step Blake would need to take to right the last atrocious wrong she was responsible for was—

"What do you mean, she was cool, she's a  _Schnee_!"

The outburst coming from the room she was about to enter had Blake freeze with the doorknob in hand.

"But she's not _like that_ ," Sun's loud voice argued back through the manifestly paper-thin walls.

She held her breath. Her mother had made a point to inform her of how, unlike Blake herself, the friend she'd dragged along was delighted to retell every single detail possible about team RWBY and their adventures. Sun's enthusiastic tales of Beacon had, she'd been told, more or less painted them up to be children's books heroes. It was no surprise to Blake that with the emergence of someone new who'd be interested in her time away, he ended up talking more about them.

Up until then, however... Blake had done everything she could to avoid overhearing even just a single word of what Sun had to retell about her friends. Admittedly, she would in other circumstances have been very curious about the entire thing, but as things stood now… in the last weeks, Blake had been especially averse to reminiscing. Letting herself think about those she left behind was the most sure-fire way to send her down a catastrophic spiral of misery, which she'd been making progress steadily climbing out of in the past months. She really couldn't afford taking even one step back, she needed all the energy she could muster in order to be able to face Adam.

" _All_  Schnees are  _like that_!" Ilia's voice argued back.

It was a mix of longing nostalgia and masochistic curiosity that kept Blake standing by the door. She was not ready to hear about these girls she missed so dearly, but now faced with this fortuitous opportunity, she simply couldn't will herself to move away.

"Not Weiss," he retorted, the tone of his voice uncharacteristically combative. "She cares about who you are, not what you are."

"It's not because she was nice to you to your face that she wasn't really like all those snobs deep down," she vehemently pressed.

Sun laughed. "What,  _no_ , she wasn't nice with me at all," he said. "She didn't like me much, really."

There was an odd pause in which Ilia manifestly was taken aback enough to be unable to find an answer. After all, why would he defend her such when she wasn't even sympathetic to him?

He seemed to read the uncertainty because then he offered more details. "But that's because she didn't like me as a person, it had nothing to do with race," he explained.

' _Do you really expect to convince Ilia by claiming something like that without any argument to support it?_ ' Blake dully thought to herself.

"How do you know that?" Ilia insisted; Blake was impressed her long-time friend even considered inquiring. "She's from Atlas," she pointed out. "I've lived there, I know how hateful and bourgeois the people up there are. They only care about money, status and pedigree; if you think any of them is willing to overlook that you're not like them, you're dreaming."

Sun made a mildly annoyed grunting sound. "She might be from Atlas but obviously she didn't like being with these people, otherwise she wouldn't have gone all the way out to Beacon," he argued. "I'm telling you she's not like them. She was awesome with Blake and their faunus upperclassman. She didn't like  _me_ because—" He stopped to think for a second as if he'd never really taken the time to figure it out. "...Uh, I think she didn't agree with the way I did things."

Blake pressed her hand to her face. ' _What an understatement._ '

"The way you did things?" Ilia repeated disconcertedly.

"Yeah, I mean like… I don't really sweat it with some… rules? You know?"

Blake rolled her eyes to herself. ' _Is that how you call your total disregard for the law, customs and traditions, social expectations, and proper etiquette_?' Though her friend's personal code did revolve around general goodness and he  _did_ have a noble heart, Blake sometimes wondered how he'd managed not to be in real legal trouble given how liberally he broke the law.

…Not that team RWBY and Weiss herself never broke the rules either, but when it came to things like social conventions, stuff like being fashionable or behaving decently at a party, those were things Weiss would never overlook. And what to say about the way he'd unashamedly wedge himself into someone else's business or clandestinely stow away? Weiss considered behaviors like this to be unacceptable, it was no wonder she didn't like him.

"I'm a  _free spirit_ ," he shot, still trying to justify himself. "Some rules are stupid, so I don't follow them. I guess she didn't agree with that. So yeah, that's one hundred percent on me, it's got nothing to do with race," he maintained.

His interlocutor gave a barely-convinced acknowledging grunt. She evidently wasn't very on board with his defense of the vilified Schnee family, but at this point she evidently had no argument left.

"And honestly," Sun continued anyways, "I think what  _would_ have been racist on her part would've been if she pretended she was okay with me even though she wasn't just because I'm a faunus," he indicated. "Weiss can be taken at face value, you never have to try and guess what's going on in her head. She's got solid integrity. Like also, when she's wrong she'll own up to it, I saw her apologize to Blake after a big fight," her retold. "I have mad respect for that."

Blake realized she was smiling to herself. She never knew Sun held Weiss in such high regard. But the more she thought about it, the more she felt it truly was absolutely like him to take a liking to someone unexpected and it  _did_ make sense, the way he'd explained it, that he in fact  _would_  see Weiss in a good light. It was nevertheless heartwarming to hear such praise for her good friend.

Ilia didn't seem to want to verbally concede anything because she changed topics. "You haven't talked about Blake's partner," she said.

There was a short pause before he said her name. "Yang."

Blake had expected that she would be brought up, but... hearing her name, like always, completely tore her chest open. She leaned her forehead on the door and exhaled shakily.

"Yang was..." Sun started before pausing, " _unbelievable_."

Blake's eyes fluttered open again and she realized she could see her two friends through the door crack. Ilia was sitting on one end of a three-person couch, hugging her legs to her chest and leaning her chin on her knees, while the blonde boy was sprawled on the other end of the same fixture.

Sun was smiling from ear to ear. "She was super friendly and outgoing and easygoing too. And she was funny. But then in combat, she had that awesome semblance where her hair shone, and it looked like she was on  _fire_  and she was so friggin' strong! She was just crazy impressive!" He exclaimed, his tail animatedly swinging around.

Blake was reminded how her mother had told her how he'd painted them to be larger than life, but… she truly thought all this was an accurate portrait.

The monkey faunus straightened up in his seat. "Through the Vytal tournament, they chose her to represent the team too 'cause as a solo fighter she was probably the strongest of them four. I mean, she can  _kick ass_." He then paused and now only the tip of his tail lightly swayed. "Blake would be around her most," he then added, "but it was easy to see it wasn't just because they happened to be partners. They were obviously really, really close."

' _You have no idea_ ,' Blake thought.

Ilia was unimpressed. "If they were close, why are  _you_ here and not her?"

The blonde faunus sheepishly brought a hand to the back of his neck, rubbing it faintly. "...Well, Blake didn't exactly invite anyone to come along with her, I just… decided to follow," he admitted. Then there was a long pause in which his entire demeanor sobered up. Finding interest in the empty seat between the two of them, his hand slid from his neck to rest on his thigh. "While Yang..." he stopped once more, his enthusiasm also audibly snuffed. "During the Fall of Beacon… I don't really know how it happened because Blake doesn't really talk about it, but…" Sun sighed. His eyes found Ilia's again. "You've seen that scar on Blake's stomach, right?"

She hummed a low, affirmative sound. "She wears a crop top like she wants it to be seen," she commented. "So, I asked her about it, but all she was willing to say was that it wasn't fair for her to hide her injury when others have no choice but to live with theirs out in the open for everyone to see."

His expression softened to something a little sad. "Okay. Hum… that was cryptic, but… she was talking about Yang," he quietly revealed. "Yang also got hurt that night and… it'd be pretty hard to hide. Her dominant arm, up until here," with his fingers, he traced an invisible line over one of his biceps, "is gone."

Ilia's demeanor had lost her indolence and she'd straightened up slightly. "…Is she okay?"

He shrugged. "Well, she  _survived_ , that much I know for sure, but since I haven't seen her since that night, I don't know how well she recovered," Sun explained awkwardly before perking up anew. "But hey, she's a strong girl. Blake even said she was the strongest person she'd ever met. So, she  _has_ to be okay."

' _She has to be okay_ ,' Blake repeated the words in her head. ' _But what if she's not?_ '

The thought of the golden girl not recovering, not overcoming the trauma, never standing back up to fight poisoned her to the point her stomach felt sick and she was spiraling down at a horrifying speed. It was her best effort to catch herself —  _this_ was why she didn't want to think of them. This was why she'd avoided Sun's stories, this was why she wasn't able to recount them to her mother herself.  _This…_ was something she couldn't afford and something she shouldn't be listening to. And yet, she stayed rooted in her spot, knowing full well how much pain doing so might entail.

"So, hmm," Sun's voice grabbed her attention again, "that's why Yang's not… here. With Blake," he resumed to why he'd brought all this up at all. "Actually. That's not  _really_  true because… Blake wouldn't even have gone to Menagerie if Yang hadn't gotten hurt, she'd likely still be around Vale," he speculated. "I mean… she blames herself for all that and didn't want to risk any more harm coming to her friends. When we talked, she sorta implied that's why she left them at all."

Ilia frowned. "Why does she blame herself?"

His tail twitched, and Blake could tell he felt slightly ill at ease with bringing this fact to her, given the close ties with the bull faunus the short girl just barely decided to cut. "Adam was there that night," he tentatively said and, from the way Ilia's expression disintegrated, it was easy to understand she'd already pieced it together without anything else needing to be said. Sun nevertheless continued. "He's the one who did that to the both of them. Blake told me he was so angry he might've killed her if Yang hadn't found them in time that night."

"…Are you saying the reason she got hurt at all was because… she stepped in for Blake?"

"That's what I understand," he offered. "Blake doesn't like talking about it, so I didn't ask for more details."

A contemplative stillness stretched between the two of them. Blake realized her hand was still on the door handle. She let it drop to her side, unable to will herself to enter the room. It almost surprised her to hear him resume.

"Once we've stopped the coup at Haven," Sun said, breaking the silence, "I'll try and get Blake to go find them. Or at least… find Yang."

' _She'll never want to see me again_ ,' she immediately thought.

"I told her that for sure Yang doesn't blame her for anything that happened. But I think Blake needs to hear it from her," he offered. "I don't think she'll truly be able to move on from what happened that night until she hears it from her that she doesn't hold it against her."

Ilia slowly released her legs from the way she'd been holding them across her chest. Instead she slid one leg down to the ground and leaned her elbow on her knee still propped up. "How do you know she doesn't?"

"…I just know. She would redo it too, no hesitation," he added.

"That's a huge sacrifice," she still argued. "What makes you so sure she would even go as far as redo it?"

He puffed up his chest. "That was Blake's  _life_ on the line," he emphasized. "There's no question between an arm and a life."

The freckled girl gave an uneasy shrug. "I… still don't know that there are that many people I'd give an arm for," she stiffly acknowledged.

This gave him pause. "Okay, I… don't  _actually_ know that Yang would for many people either, but… like I said, this was Blake," he reminded her. "I mean… the whole team was very close, but Blake and Yang were just… on another level. They were stupidly in synch. It was almost uncanny how well they read each other." With this, Sun leaned back as he looked up. There was a sort of nostalgic quality to both the way he stared into the emptiness and to the tone of his voice, making it clear he was reminiscing. "Total opposites and yet  _ridiculously_ complementary. Maybe like the two faces of the same coin? Or no, more like two matching puzzle pieces— I don't know how to describe it."

There was a pause in which it felt like Sun still wasn't done and Ilia evidently didn't know how to respond.

"Or maybe that's not quite true, maybe I  _could_ describe it," he finally rectified, a tone to his voice Blake had never heard before.

As if Ilia too picked up on this odd change in his intonation, the silence that ensued this time practically had palpable edge as both faunus women waited on what had induced this noteworthy fluctuation to his voice.

"I guess I'm just hesitant to..." he trailed off. The blonde faunus's gaze was fixated on the wooden floor. "If I use a specific  _word_ ," he emphasised, "it's…" he sighed uncomfortably before glancing up at the brunette sitting across him. "You know how… some things, when you actually say out loud, when you  _actually_ choose a specific word to label something, it… it makes it like… you can't look the other way anymore," he carefully attempted to rationalize. "You can't… pretend you haven't noticed it or that it didn't cross your mind," he cautioned. His gaze on his interlocutor was now as if he was searching for a hint of understanding. "It becomes… real. I guess."

Blake's fingers rigidly clutched the fabric of her white coat and her blood chilled in her veins with a foreboding feeling. Sun's bizarrely extensive preface to  _one word_  he apparently wanted to use to qualify her relationship with Yang felt like it could only be one thing.

But it wasn't possible… was it?

Ilia held his gaze unsurely. "I'm not sure what you're getting at."

Sun's voice was unusually uncertain. "I mean, about…" he began, trailing off yet again. "You know when you said…" He paused. "…You said Blake used to look at Adam a certain way."

Heat flushed through her body in a sudden wave as it became clear that this was indeed what he was talking about. The silence that fell between her two friends was stifling.

It seemed an unreasonably long time before Ilia's voice gruelled through it. "…What about it?"

He stared back with an air of seriousness Blake had rarely seen on his part. "I think…" he glanced down, "…I don't know. I thought… I thought maybe…" Sun trailed off again, leaning back into his seat with an overall despondent body language. "I don't know if maybe I got it all wrong, I mean, maybe that night wasn't the best moment to judge," he allowed, as if what he was about to say needed yet another disclaimer. "Because really, I only saw her do it on that night when Beacon fell. So, I don't know if it was because… Yang had just lost her arm defending her and Blake was taken to her emotional limit, and that, maybe, how frantic and desperate she was made what she expressed  _look_  bigger than it was or if… …. If maybe exactly  _because_ she was at her limit, Blake didn't have any strength to hide it. Or maybe she didn't care anymore about hiding it," he gently explained. Sun looked back up at the young woman across from him. "But I had never seen her look at anyone the way she looked at Yang in that moment," he confessed. He then shook his head slightly. "No— I'd never seen  _anyone_ look at anyone else the way she looked at her then."

If the stiffness in the air around her hadn't already betrayed the tension in Ilia's body, the way she clenched her jaw or her fingers digging into the flesh of her leg would have. "…And it was…?  _That_? Are you sure?"

Blake wondered whether the short faunus girl was having difficulty processing this possibility because of the implications that, had she not assumed Blake's sexuality back then, things just might have turned out very differently… or if maybe… her feelings were still alive and this was in fact jealousy.

"No, like I said, I'm not sure," he dejectedly said. "I mean… Yang, the  _definition_ of fire and energy, was just lying there, pale and lifeless as a result of a sacrifice she made  _for Blake_ ," he reminded her. The way he painted the picture this time around vividly forced the horrendous memories back to Blake, nauseating her again. Sun shook his head. "I mean… seeing her like that, it's only normal Blake was a wreck and clinging to her. That's why I don't know if I can  _really_ say that… the look in Blake's eyes ... if it was really... that."

Ilia hummed understandingly. This perspective seemed to have alleviated her unease.

"It doesn't change the fact that I just can't stop thinking about it," Sun confessed. "Because, really… there's absolutely no question there was  _something_  there. And whatever it was, it was really powerful," he contemplated out loud, a thoughtful frown faintly creasing his features. "And so... real."

"Enough that it made you think there was… something…  _more_ ," she carefully confirmed.

"... But I don't know that there actually was," he defended.

"But you  _think_ there was, don't you?"

"I don't know what to think," Sun unnervingly shot back. "Blake isn't very open about these things," he pointed out.

"And Yang?" Ilia pressed, undeterred.

The blonde faunus paused. "I… never knew Yang that well so it's not like I would've been able to tell what was just usual and what wasn't when it came to her," he allowed. He repositioned himself in his seat, his tail started swaying again as he reminisced. "She was really cheerful and lively person. And flirty and demonstrative with everyone. So, she'd do stuff like get Blake to waltz with her at the school dance, but no one found it unusual for her to do so because that's just how Yang was," he gave as an example. "I really didn't think anything was up when that happened, Blake even spent the rest of that evening with my bro Neptune and me," he offered.

He ran his hand on his hair, from the top of his head to the back as he thought things through. "...But then again, maybe I was too stoked she hung out with us instead of her team to pay attention to… hum…" he sighed. "That, or maybe because it just didn't cross my mind back then that Blake or Yang might be..." he trailed off uncomfortably. It was evident he didn't know what label to settle on. He met Ilia's gaze, as if looking for help, but she simply shrugged. Sun sighed. "What I mean is… Because I didn't think of the possibility, then I didn't notice… hints? If there were any? You know?"

She narrowed her eyes in concentration, as if she needed to piece together what he was saying. "You're saying that it might have gone over your head because they're both girls? That had Yang been a guy, you'd have seen it if there was anything to notice?"

He seemed a bit embarrassed by this. "Yeah."

' _But there was nothing to notice yet, back then…_ ' Blake idly thought to herself.

Her eyes fell to the ground as everything came back to her. That wasn't true. They might not have had started their affair, and Yang had yet to realize she was attracted to her, but… from what Blake understood, the blonde had very much been attracted to her already by then. And at that point in time, Blake was already senselessly in love with her. Dancing with Yang had been the entire reason she'd attended the dance. Those few minutes had made her giddy to the point she had opted to avoid spending any further part of the evening with the golden girl because she'd been certain that her exhilaration would betray her attraction. She'd been certain that if she stayed even a single minute too long with her, being on cloud nine as she was, Yang would see through her. It'd filled her with such unprecedented gleeful energy… it'd taken the entire night for her to work it off dancing to come back down to earth.

This meant that, in retrospect, had someone been looking for it, they might have seen the affinity and intimacy they shared. They might even have hazarded a guess at budding romance, which wouldn't have been completely wrong because it was only a little over two months after the dance that they'd slept together for the first time.

Ilia's voice brought Blake back to the conversation. "...So, when all this is over, in spite of everything, you're  _still_ gonna try and get Blake to go see her?"

The question implied was one Blake understood fully well: Why would you want to encourage their reunion if it might be synonymous with forfeiting your own chances at the romance you were hoping for?

Sun held her gaze for a moment, apparently deliberating how to answer this. Then his shoulders slumped slightly, looking somewhat defeated. "All I know for sure is that Blake deserves to be happy. And that it'll never happen until everything is fixed with Yang. Or at the very least, until she hears from Yang herself that she doesn't hold it against her that she got hurt," he explained resolutely. "Blake  _needs_ that to start healing. So, if we want to support her, it's not even an option to leave things how they are now."

There was a long silence, one in which Ilia appeared to be processing what'd been said. On her part, Blake realized her vision had gotten blurry. Sun had initially been invasive, and he'd very much misunderstood her journey, which, with her having not healed enough then to be patient with him, had aggravated her enough that they'd constantly end up squabbling. With all this in mind, she would never have expected him to have had any awareness of feelings she'd done everything she could to hide. She wouldn't have expected either that he would grasp this well how pivotal to her wellbeing Yang's forgiveness was, but she terribly thankful that he did.

"I want to support her," Ilia finally said, her voice so very quiet. "I haven't been there for her the way I would've wished," she admitted. "Being on her side with turning the White Fang around is one thing, but that's not just for her. That's for all of us. And I… really want to do something for her personally."

"You'll have your chance," Sun said with a grin.

She pursed her lips somewhat shyly. "Maybe helping her with this will be it," Ilia reiterated. "And I wouldn't mind meeting her team."

His grin widened inordinately. "Even Weiss?"

The brunette narrowed her eyes at him. "…I guess," she grumbled, earning herself a laugh from the blonde boy. With this, he jumped to his feet. Before the conversation ended and he went about whatever he was about to do, Ilia stopped him with a small motion of her hand. To his inquisitive air, she timidly asked: "Earlier, you said if you use a specific word to qualify… how… you know. But… you haven't said what word."

Blake felt her heart lurch against her ribcage. She too had wanted to know. What did Sun see in the way she'd looked at Yang that night? Enough to recognize the nature of her feelings, obviously, but… had it been enough for him to also grasp that something had been alive between the two of them? Because Yang had been passed out, so it wasn't like he'd witnessed a look they would've had exchanged. This was solely on Blake. Maybe he thought that had been unrequited love on her part? The exact word he would've wanted to use would tell a lot about how far he may have ventured his speculation. Would he go as far as to think… they'd been an item…? So then, what would he call them? Girlfriends? Lovers, maybe…?

He gave a soft sigh. "You know," he started, "since the beginning there was a vague impression of… something I couldn't put my finger on. At first, I tried to brush it off because it looked like they were best friends, but… it kinda always stayed at the back of my mind," he reminisced, surprising Blake slightly. She'd barely started coming to terms with her attraction to Yang when she'd first met Sun, yet he was saying he'd noticed something from the beginning?

The blonde boy frowned lightly, running his hand again from the top of his head to scratch behind it. "I tried not to let it bother me, but I couldn't figure it out," he said. "It took that night for it to  _really_ dawn on me what it was. And also, what it might mean," he explained with and odd serenity, his voice tainted with what Blake could only call resignation. Sun took a moment to observe the girl across him. "It'd been almost scary how it seemed like... they were  _meant_  to be by each other's side," he added, "so the only way I could describe the way they just… fittogether would be... ' _soulmates'_ ," he finally admitted. "If something like that exists, then they'd qualify—  _that's_ how perfect they looked."

 _Soulmates_. The word crushed her so that Blake had to crouch. Her legs were terribly weak, and she realized the cloudiness in her vision had cleared up as tears now rolled down her cheeks.

That word had floated through her mind multiple times back when she'd been with Yang. She'd hurriedly ousted it, reasoning that she was being too sappy and melodramatic or that… Yang's feelings clearly weren't strong enough to justify the use of that word, because if they had been, then Yang wouldn't have been so reluctant about committing, right? Yang wouldn't have been so scared of telling her how she felt... right?

Though…Blake running the way she had truly had proven Yang right to be hesitant.

She found herself pressing her hand to her heart; Blake exhaled a shaky exhalation. Sun was right. It wasn't even an option for her not to see Yang again, she  _had_  to find her. She had to make this right, even if atoning took her entire lifetime.  


* * *

  
Time had slowed to a crawl, everything was on mute. Sweeping the room with her eyes had her in disbelieving confusion. The helicopters and the police's sirens, the shouting outside and the clashing of blades, everything was silent. Blake couldn't believe she was witnessing the sight of her whole team together. Her team. Her eyes stopped on the blonde. Her  _whole_ team.

" _Yang_ …?"

She was here.

 _She was here_.

How?  _Why_?

… What were the odds?

Crushed with emotion, unable to move, the dark haired faunus stood in the immense gash of the wreckage of the wall, unable to detach her gaze from what was nothing short of a miraculous sight to her. It was utterly debilitating how many emotions surged from her chest to overrun her body -the yearning, the love, the pain, the shame, the hope and the ache- and nevertheless, seeing her was so…  _invigorating_. And how to even  _begin_  processing running into her by coincidence this way?

In return, it had been a range of unexpected emotions that had unravelled on the blonde's features. In a heartbeat, disbelieving shock turned into an unexpectedly  _marveling_  gaze, her mouth hanging open.

The black and yellow prosthetic limb of course didn't go unnoticed, but Blake was wholly engrossed with the violet of her eyes. Yang stared back at her with her eyes  _violet_ , not red. There was a definite sense of eagerness, of yearning… of hope, maybe? Whatever it was, it was nothing like the anger Blake had been certain to expect when she would find her again.

Ruby's voice tore through the silence, snapping them both out of it. "Yang,  _go_!" She urged, pointing to a chasm at the back of the room.

The moment the brawler broke eye contact with Blake and turned around to start on a sprint was the moment the rest of the world accelerated to catch up to the present. The faunus became aware of where she was and what was happening again, and though her eyes didn't detach themselves from the woman who had occupied her thoughts for the last year until said woman was out of sight, Blake was able to return to the pressing events at hand.

She turned to her former team leader, exchanging in a short look the understanding that whatever events had brought the team to Haven needed to take precedence over the reunion. Blake couldn't help being impressed with how much more mature Ruby appeared. They nodded at each other in acknowledgement that they had to postpone explanations and rejoicing until their respective fights were wrapped up— which abruptly reminded Blake that Adam still needed to be taken care of. She promptly returned to the chaos happening outside.

Everything happened in a blur. Fighting alongside Sun to push that horned monster back, rounding up the remnant members of the terrorist faction of the White Fang in order to hand them to the police. Diving through what she had to assume was part of Weiss's renowned hereditary semblance – the wasp did carry her friend's aura– to come to the aid of her friends with the confrontation happening inside. Standing shoulder to shoulder with her team leader and performing against woefully familiar faces a team attack she had rehearsed so much she remembered it in her bones. The way Yang seemed to miraculously reappear with that glowing artifact. The way Yang glanced down at her with that incredible fondness in her eyes. The scream and that nightmarish vision of a monstrous being which allowed their foes to escape. Being in her parent's arms, Sun and Ilia joining them… talks of the future of the White Fang.

It was a whirlwind up until Sun noticed everyone at the back of the room. He waved at them buoyantly and, as he started heading towards them, he stopped himself and twirled Blake around with his tail. And  _that_ was the moment when everything come to a screeching halt. The blonde boy stared at her in expectant excitement and yet she could only gawk anxiously at her ex-partner, who slowly walked down the stairs of the grand hall with that strange lamp to hand it over to her uncle.

Her team.

Blake took a deep breath and made herself head towards them. As she got in speaking range, Ruby fell to her knees in exhaustion and Weiss knelt to her side in support. The faunus was about to kneel too but abruptly stopped herself in her tracks as the tall blonde unabashedly strode over and her plopped down next to her sister. Blake could do nothing but stand a foot away from them, her body wouldn't move her any closer; as she stared down at the three of them, her heart beat so hard in her head that she felt deaf and her blood coursed so fast in her veins it made her dizzy.

Yang stared up at her with a so very reluctant look of vulnerability, a look very unlike the incredulity and amazement or subsequent fondness and complicity she'd displayed earlier. This hesitancy was closer to what Blake had expected and she couldn't help but wonder if the anger would surface any moment now. Out of the corner of her eye, the faunus saw Weiss's attention wander to the back of the room, to the people Blake had been with. Ruby was staring at her as if she was trying to read her thoughts.

Suitably for her position as leader, she was the one who broke the silence. "So. Blake," Ruby gave a short laugh, "what are you doing here?"

How the chain of events that led her to Haven came to her all at once only to be completely blank the following moment was vexing. Not that she would've known where to start either way. "I was uh..." she trailed off, feeling in her discomfiture at being put on the spot an awkward need to take less space. She shyly grabbed her wrist, holding her arm in front of herself. "I was gonna ask you three the same thing," she said with a shrug of her shoulder, attempting a small smile.

Yang's uncertain frown stayed on her. Her lips were tight, and she looked excessively reluctant. What she gave off wasn't unlike a wounded animal ready to flee. Blake's chest tightened uncomfortably. Weiss and Ruby looked at each other before they both looked at her. Ruby attempted a small smile, as her sister finally detached her gaze from their newly reunited teammate.

"That's a loooonnnng story" Ruby started as she and Weiss smiled, seemingly in synch.

Yang's gaze dropped down.

Blake's heart felt compressed painfully tight. What would she have given to be able to take back all the hurt and pain she knew she'd caused. "Well… I'm not going anywhere," she tried, realizing as she spoke how closed off her body language was; she let both arms down her sides.

"That's all that matters," Ruby gave with a smile, glancing again at her white-haired partner; Yang was still obstinately staring down. "That we're all here together," she added, and Blake didn't fail to notice how the brawler's eyebrows twitched like she'd been stung. Ruby quickly turned to her sister. "Right?" she tried, seeking her support.

Yang finally phased back in to the conversation at hand and the violet orbs drifted from the ground to her smiling sibling. Weiss expectantly stared at her too, but Yang nevertheless remained unbelievably apprehensive. The faunus's heart sank in her chest.

Then, the golden girl finally looked back up at her, her clear gaze distressingly frank in its open scrutiny; it was obvious to everyone she was weighing the options and trying to decide how to go from there. Blake couldn't hold her stare. Her ears flattened down, and she felt her shoulders slump meekly.

The moment seemed to stretch forever, it was an unreasonably long time before Yang finally answered.

"Yeah," she agreed against all odds, her voice as gentle as it had been murmuring to each other a year ago.

Blake's gaze shot back up to her in hopeful surprise. Had she heard right? Could it  _really_  be? Was Yang not going to reject her? Her entire body perked in excitement to straighten up tall. She couldn't contain the wide smile that etched itself on her features as relief, love and exhilaration bubbled up from deep inside her.

Weiss extended her arm in an invitation to come down join them and Blake was on the verge of tears as she readily fell to her knees and into both her teammates' arms. Being hit with their so familiar and nostalgic scents as she burrowed herself in the group hug brought tears to her eyes. The mane of blonde curls amazingly soft against her cheek and the brawler's strong arm around her as well as the heiress's considerably frailer one, the familiarity of all those sensations, made it feel like time had been wound back up to a surreal dream of happy days. They stayed in the tightly huddled cocoon of a group hug for a long time. It was all at the same time that they finally seemed to be ready to release from it.

Everyone sat more upright and Blake's attention was on her blonde ex-partner. She was elated to be with her. To feel her. To touch her. To look at her. She'd been terrified that what happened may have broken something irreparable, extinguished the passion in her soul, that Yang may not have been able to stand again. But she should've known her fears were unfounded. The woman she loved was  _far_  stronger than she herself could ever hope to be. Of course, Yang wouldn't wither away, of course she wouldn't lie down in defeat,  _of course_  she'd refuse to let her flame go out. That flame was the brightest thing Blake had ever witnessed and the warmest thing she'd ever experienced, it wasn't about to burn out.

The faunus had barely registered her other teammates starting to move, it surprised her to overhear Weiss's voice come on such a flat tone.

"You're here too," she pointed out.

"Wouldn't miss the action," Sun answered with a grin.

"Is that so," the short lady idly retorted. Her eyes drifted from him to the back of the room again, towards that giant gash and the people standing a little further.

"Neptune's not here," he laughed.

"I don't care," she shot embarrassedly. "Your friend is a shallow clown."

With a sheepish grin, the monkey faunus was about to offer a comeback but was cheerfully interrupted by Kali's voice.

"The infamous team RWBY!" she merrily exclaimed, to which Blake's three teammates quickly whirled around towards her. "Thank you for taking care of Blake," her mother started before fussily gushing over the three girls.

Blake watched. It was a sight she'd  _never_  in her wildest dreams conceived the possibility of. Her family, whom not even a few months ago were out of her life, was now meeting her beloved team… whom  _she_  also feared she might've lost forever. Through all of it however… despite remaining aware and somewhat attentive to the shenanigans going down, her eyes kept straying back to her.

 _Her_.

The conversation she overheard between Sun and Ilia only a few hours ago came to mind. Mostly about how the golden girl was strong, so she  _had_  to be okay. And she was. Or at least, she had recovered enough to be on the front lines again, in less than a year, no less. Blake stared at her with so many emotions filling her; pride, admiration, amazement… and once more, that profound love and  _need_  to hold her.

A large hand rested heavily on her shoulder and she sensed the towering presence of her father to her side. "I heard from your mother what the boy would say about your team," he gently said. "Is it true? About her arm?"

Her ears twitched and flattened a little. "It's true," Blake softly acquiesced.

Ghira had a low, understanding hum. "Is that why you're standing to the side, staring at her like that?"

' _In part_ ,' was what Blake wanted to answer, but how to start explaining the debacle that was her fault and how it had only been made worse by her immeasurably profound feelings for her golden ex-partner?

In her awkward lack of answer, her father's voice came again. "Or is it maybe because she's…  _the one_?"

It took a second for her to properly assimilate that her father had indeed asked her  _this_  so unexpectedly casually. Blake had no will to try and cover up the truth. "…It's both," she admitted quietly, daring to venture peeking up at him.

He gazed back down at her contemplatively for a second before letting his attention drift back to the subject of their exchange. His hand squeezed Blake's shoulder comfortingly. "What's her name?"

She looked on to the tall blonde. "Yang," Blake murmured, almost as if to herself. "Yang Xiao Long."

With this, before she understood what was happening, Ghira briskly strode past her. "Miss Xiao Long," he called enthusiastically as he intently marched her way. "It's a  _pleasure_  to meet you," he declared, taking a hold of her arm and forcing her into a vigorous handshake.

Staggered, she let herself be rattled as she stared up at his impossibly imposing build. Blake wondered which part of it was most mind-boggling to Yang; the fact that her parents were there at all, the concept of meeting Blake's parents given their ambiguous relationship… or maybe just his sheer size.

Her eyes jolted from him to Blake for a fraction of a second. "Mr. …. …Belladonna?" She tried uneasily.

"We've heard  _all_  about how well you've taken care of Blake," he said, to which Yang sucked in her lips for a second. His interest had fortunately shifted to her prosthetic arm, having him miss the blonde's odd reaction. Blake felt her face flare with a blush at the thought that her ex-partner truly had…  _taken care_  of her in more ways than her father would know. Ghira grabbed hold of her shoulder in an enthusiastically praising sort of slap while keeping her hand hostage in his other. "And of course, how brave you've been. You have our everlasting gratitude," he added.

Blake was so absorbed with the scene, it took her mother addressing her for her to realize she'd joined her.

"He likes her," Kali whispered.

"I see that," she allowed, decidedly somewhat impressed. Her father had somehow gone on to something about how solid the blonde was, apparently impressed with how unflinchingly she'd taken the impact as he'd grabbed her shoulder, and how respectable that was and… Blake lost track because of what her mother said next.

"I mean, he  _approves_  of her."

Time and her entire being screeched to halt and she had a blank moment of pause. Between both her parents catching on so immediately and the conversation with Ilia she had overheard a few hours prior, she couldn't help but inquire: "...Did you two know from what Sun told you…?"

Her mother had an amused smile. "Oh no, nothing like that," she merrily dismissed, turning just enough to look at her out of the corner of her eye. "Blake, baby, the way you've been staring at her could not be clearer."

This might have had Blake wonder if she  _truly_  was this obvious, but upon re-examination she quickly put a halt to her second-guessing. After all, Weiss, Sun…  _and_  Adam had also seen through her. Her stare stayed on her mother, realizing there had never been an opportunity to discuss unconventional prospects. How her parents had originally been tolerant of Adam when she initially had grown closer to him or how her mother had been excited about Sun couldn't have helped her gauge their reaction to Yang as they both were faunus males. And though the outcome looked very favorable, she still was a tad nervous confirming. "...And… that's fine?" she softly tried.

With a light, confused frown, Kali cocked her head to the side. "Because she's human? Or because she's a she?" She then looked terribly wounded. "Did your father or I ever say anything that would've led you to believe we  _wouldn't_  be fine with either?"

"No! Never!" Blake hurriedly defended. "It's not about anything either of you said, but I was still… a little anxious, I guess," she explained, pausing to give her mother a shy smile. "I'm relieved there's no problem."

The corner of her lips curled up in a cat-like smile. "From what I've heard of her, she's the  _furthest thing_  from a problem," she shot back, getting Blake's ears to perk up animatedly. Kali's smile warmed considerably at her daughter's clear excitement and she rested her hand on the small of her back, giving a gentle push. "Now don't let your father monopolize her, she's petrified. Go take over."

Ghira's imposing presence and exuberance as he interacted with the blonde appeared to have attracted her remaining two teammates.

"You're really tall," Blake heard Ruby comment in awe as she approached them, drawing his attention.

Though he did size them both up, his gaze quite unsurprisingly stayed on the small lady in pale hues of blue.

"Miss Schnee," he recognized, to which Weiss gave an overly deep bow.

This conversation, which might've been very interesting to hear, was completely lost on Blake as she approached her ex-partner. "Yang," she gently tried, stepping closer. "Sorry for my dad," she offered, attempting to start a casual chat, wondering how that would be received.

"It's fine," the blonde assuredly answered, not turning her way. Her violet eyes were on the monument of a man who had just rattled her. "Your parents seem like great people."

"They are," Blake immediately agreed, following her ex-partner's gaze to the so familiar figures adorning her lineage's colors. "I'm very blessed," she added more quietly. Her eyes fell on the ground as she weighed whether she should share the fresh exchange she'd had with her mother. It'd made her so ridiculously gleeful and, though it might have been completely inappropriate, she couldn't completely hold it in. "...They liked you," she added in a murmur.

There was silence instead of an answer this time. Blake made herself glance up at the woman who'd relentlessly occupied her thoughts day and night. Yang was gazing back down at her. Straight at her. With that same unbelievably gentle look in her eyes she'd graced her with earlier that evening, yet she wasn't smiling this time, additionally, her body language was cautiously distant. The portrait reminded Blake of the way the sunlight stubbornly spears through the cracks of a boarded window. Try as she might, there was no trapping the light and goodness Yang held inside of her, not even behind that uncharacteristic sullenness she presented.

"Yang," she gasped, emotion rising to crush her chest. A million words came to her in a jumbled disarray; apologies, regrets, pleas of forgiveness, vows of devotion, professions of adoration, everything she'd ever felt and things she might not even be able to put into words. She didn't know where or how to start, and she was mesmerized by those magnificent violet gems. "Yang, I—"

"It's okay," she cut in. "I'm okay," she affirmed.

As she said this, Yang unexpectedly seemed so awfully far away that Blake was overrun with the appallingly unambiguous  _certainty_  that something was amiss.

The blonde offered her a smile, but her eyes didn't smile along. Instead, they were imbued with a poignant mix of tenderness and sadness. "I'm better now," Yang insisted, "and you're here with us. Like Ruby said, it's all that matters."

Her throat was tied so tight she couldn't have uttered a word had she been able to formulate an answer to this hideous lie.

Yang had always been an open book to Blake, they both knew this, and it was undisputable the brawler would  _know_  how obvious the mask she'd opted to put on would be. Yet she had nevertheless chosen to don it and Blake stared at her in dismayed shock. The message couldn't be clearer; in a very clear effort to keep her at bay, Yang was erecting a wall between them.

Blake wanted to scream and yet she couldn't force the faintest sound past her lips before her ex-partner walked past her. The blonde hurriedly joined her uncle, busying herself with that strange blue lamp again while the tall man gathered a passed out freckled boy.

' _No!_ ' She thought in horror, wanting nothing more than to run after her. ' _No, no, no! It's not okay! I need you to scream at me, to tell me how I hurt you, to be angry at me! I need to apologize, beg for forgiveness, make amends!_ ' She almost despaired for the other woman to take some form of revenge, to hurt her back because she knew she'd hurt her so,  _so_  badly.

"Blake?" Ilia's voice interrupted her crashing spiral of an inner monologue. "You're needed outside." Her short friend then paused, evidently taking notice of her mood. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Her entire body had tensed with the unambiguous rejection she'd had to swallow, and she knew the pain and disquiet were plain and obvious on her features. No matter how she might have attempted to put up a front, this hurt too much for her to have been able to convincingly put up a front for her friend. She found the other faunus's gaze. "Nothing's wrong that I didn't already expect," she shakily gave, doing her best to pull herself together and into business mode. "What's happening outside?"

Ilia stared up at her in silence for a second. "…Is it… because of your partner?" she gently asked.

Cat ears flattened down, she was unable to prevent her gaze from drifting to her ex-lover. "It's not because of her, it's because of me. I betrayed her, I can't expect her to welcome me," she confessed. "I've got a lot of work to do to earn back her consideration."

The dark blue eyes didn't follow the other's line of sight towards the golden girl, they stayed attentively on Blake's features, and there was a lingering moment of silence before Blake was finally able to return her attention to her interlocutor. Ilia still steadily observed her. "I was mistaken about Adam, wasn't I?"

What she meant didn't click. "Don't berate yourself over it, he's very charismatic and his assurance in his convictions are compelling," Blake allowed. "I too was caught up in his delusions for a while. He has a way of making them pass for righteous dreams," she softly added.

"That too, but I… I wasn't talking about that," Ilia quietly rectified. "I meant about… what I said. About the way you looked at him."

Being reminded of those words filled Blake with a self-conscious mix of surprise and discomfiture, both at the memory of being called out on the way she'd overly obviously favored him back then  _and_  for Ilia's confession which she could never have anticipated… but also for being reminded  _yet again_ how plain and noticeable her feelings for the blonde were.

"What I actually saw back then was you being caught up in admiration with his 'delusions passed as righteous dreams', as you just said, right?" Her long-time friend nevertheless confirmed. "I was mistaken when I thought that it was… love."

This wasn't a question. Had Blake wanted to deny it -which she  _really_ didn't-, she wouldn't have been able to convince the other faunus otherwise. Knowing full well what the answer would be, she nevertheless heard herself ask: "What brought this on?"

"It's just so glaringly obvious to anyone who knows you," she stated, corroborating what Blake had already gathered from her parents', from Adam's, from Weiss's assessment. Ilia pensively contemplated her for a short moment. "How you were with him… it just doesn't compare to how you are with her."

There it was. Blake's eyes fell to the ground. "I know," she acknowledged.

"...I never in my wildest dreams imagined that you could be anything else than straight."

Her ears twitched, and her gaze found her friend's features again. "If it's any consolation, I had no idea before I met her either," she gently offered. "...If I'd understood myself back then, maybe…"

"Don't, things wouldn't have been any different," Ilia sighed. "Not if she's any indication of what your type is," she pointed out, glancing at the blonde brawler.

For a second, Blake watched her from afar once more. Her tall stature and the way her athletic build  _still_  remained criminally voluptuous. Her exquisite features, her pouty lips and her brilliantly clear violet her eyes, and her cascading mane of golden curls and her — Blake had to slap herself out of her gawking stupor. "...No matter what one's type usually is, I don't know how anyone  _wouldn't_  be into her," she absentmindedly said.

There was a small silence. Ilia had followed her stare this time, and they both observed the subject of their exchange. "...You're not wrong," she eventually admitted.

This had them turn to each other again and the expression Blake must've been making  _had_  to have betrayed the possessiveness she'd felt surfacing because the shorter girl instantly gave an apologetic look.

"Don't worry, I didn't have any... weird ideas," she reassured. "It's just… I have eyes. I'm not going to tell you she isn't as attractive as you know she is."

Blake gave a discerning hum, maybe reddening slightly from her unexpectedly territorial impulse. Though she  _knew_ how much the blonde would get ogled, Blake had never been openly confronted with anyone expressing to her face potential attraction to Yang and she surprised herself with what fierce possessiveness she had inside her. She couldn't help wondering if it was because she felt that... and this was so ironic because  _she_ was the one who deserted  _her_ , but she felt right then that… Yang was slipping between her fingers. Blake couldn't help wondering if maybe, had something like this happened a year ago, when she was relatively secure in her rapport with Yang, if maybe she would've been unfazed by such a benign compliment on the blonde's looks.

She decided she would rather not dwell on it, moreover, there was plenty happening around them that she had more distractions than she knew what to do with to take her mind off all of it. "Let's wrap up the night," she urged.

With this, she joined the new White Fang out on the school grounds to regroup and organize the faunus they'd brought over from Menagerie. Priority went to the wounded and the prisoners they'd taken from Adam's White Fang. Blake wanted to lose herself into the work, stop thinking about that forged smile Yang had chosen to give her, but her parents quickly ousted her back to her team as said teammates along with their friends headed out to assess the events of the night and strategize.

Walking to the common room of the dorm the group she now joined had apparently been using allowed her some casual catching up with the three additional friends who'd also made the trip from Beacon. Though the question pressed her curiosity, Blake decided it might be best not to inquire about JNPR's missing teammate—she figured there must have been a reason Pyrrha wasn't with them and, the same as Blake being missing must've been a delicate matter for her own team, the redhead's absence might be a sensitive topic.

This led her to wonder if any of her three friends had inquired about Blake to her team — after all, it would only normal to. She likely would've asked about Pyrrha had she not been sensitized by her own circumstances. Her eyes wandered to Yang, a few steps ahead of her. How would she have reacted to being interrogated regarding Blake's absence…? Anger? Sadness? Sullenness? Or maybe apathy?

Soon they were seating themselves in the common room for the quick emergency briefing the tall gloomy man with a red cape had promised. Yang didn't sit next to her; she instead forcibly wedged herself between Ruby and Weiss. Her teammates' concerned gazes as well as their friends' more puzzled ones failed at being subtle, awkwardly going from one to the other. It was so painfully obvious how Yang went out of her way not to look at her, not to linger too close to her, that it made everyone visibly uncomfortable. The moment was thankfully urged along as the disparate party that had gathered went ahead and briefed Blake on the near-unbelievable behind-the-curtains of what had been happening.

They filled her in on everything— the maidens, the gods, the relics, Salem, Cinder… Yang's mother. Which then made self-explanatory the necessity of delivering the relic they had to the Atlas vault. Being subsequently filled in on the general chaos of current world events had Blake realize how out of touch she'd been with heading down to Menagerie while the communication between the kingdoms had remained severed. She didn't know Atlas had barricaded itself. She didn't know that since she'd left Vale, they  _still_  hadn't recovered Beacon's territory. She didn't know how scattered the people she had gotten to know at Beacon had become. And then it came up; the silver eyes. They were talking about the necessity for Ruby to control them when the implications of Blake not knowing about this either seemed to hit all her friends at once. Blake didn't know the frozen dragon on the tower had been Ruby's work and she didn't know what had triggered her team leader's powers either. The silence that transpired was so crushing that it filled Blake with a decisively foreboding feeling.

Learning about Pyrrha's fate was devastating. The way the room fell into a grieving stillness even nearly a year after the tragedy had happened showed how much of a mark she'd made. They allowed some time for Blake to recover before steering the conversation towards her own circumstances; mainly the army of faunus she'd brought to Haven. Going into the major developments concerning the White Fang, Sienna's assassination, the radical faction led by Adam and their intent on Haven, how it had brought her where she was, grounded her back into the urgent matters at hand and it was very welcome.

Once everyone's circumstances had been established, as if the night wasn't eventful enough as it was, as if there wasn't already enough to swallow down, they came to the inevitable 'what then'. Because there undeniably was a series of impending crises they would need to tend to.

Haven Academy's headmaster was nowhere to be seen and, with him being revealed to be an informant for the enemy, it would be wise to think of scrutinizing the staff…which had already been thinned out by whoever had been picking off Mistral huntsmen. Hundreds were missing, maybe even thousands. The city was in a bad shape, the people restless and defenseless, and with all this, it couldn't be discounted that… Haven might still fall should the Grimm be driven to push in when the citizens came to realize their precarious situation.

No, they couldn't in good conscience just  _leave_. And yet putting off going to Atlas for too long wasn't an option— though they would still have to figure out  _how_  they would go about this safely, given that communication from kingdom to kingdom was still down and General Ironwood had completely shut down air traffic to close Atlas's borders.

On her part, Blake was also very anxious to make sure the people she was responsible for, the faunus who decided to stand and fight alongside her, were taken care of. She knew that for this one night, some might go about exploring Haven and all of them could go back to the makeshift quarters on the ship that'd brought them there; she knew her parents would be able to see to that. However, it was a short-term solution and certainly wouldn't be appropriate for more than a few days. But everyone was exhausted and laying out a solid action plan would require at least a good night's sleep, so they agreed to reconvene the following day.

Ruby quickly turned to her. "Were you going back to your ship with your parents? Or… did you maybe… want to stay in the dorms with us? Until we're ready to leave for Atlas?" she asked, voice and gaze full of hope.

"I'd love to stay with all of you." The prospect of sharing a room with her team again had her near-euphoric.

Her smile widened, and she whirled around to her sister. "Yang, do you want to show her—"

"I can't," the blonde cut in. "I told uncle Qrow I'd help look for Lionheart. You or Weiss should do it," she offhandedly shrugged. She quickly glanced at her sibling and then  _finally_  at Blake. It felt like she made herself look at her.

And there it was again. That smile. That un-Yang-like smile that was so hollow. The one with which her eyes told such a different story. It made it feel like she had barricaded her warmth inside of her.

With this, without leaving time for anyone to add anything, Yang strode off.

Blake's gaze stayed on her as she exited the room. All this was not what she expected and yet, though it might not have been as hostile a rejection as what she had anticipated, it wasn't any less painful.

"Come on." Weiss's voice brought her back to earth. "I'll show you around the dorm," she volunteered with a small sigh.

Blake acquiesced and followed her in silence, idly reflecting on the massive amount of information she was just fed and the pressing affairs to take care of in the following days. Or, not quite. Every interaction she had with her ex-partner that evening kept coming back to mind and shoving what she rationally  _should_  be analyzing to the backseat. She felt slightly guilty she wasn't taking this time alone with her snow-haired friend to catch up with her, but given the circumstances, neither of them seemed to know what to say. They found themselves walking through the main hall in silence for a while, Blake walking a step behind her shorter friend. It was a long moment before Weiss eventually spoke up.

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news," she started, "but… the rooms are by pairs in this dorm. We're not sharing the same way we were at Beacon," she explained, glancing back at Blake. "Ruby, Jaune, Ren and Nora got here a few weeks before Yang and me, so Ruby's sharing her room with Nora, while the guys are together. The boy, Oscar, is with Ruby's uncle… and I've been sharing with Yang for the last month. You can have the next room over," she said. "I'd offer you my spot to let you be with her, but…" the snow-haired lady glanced her way, her frank gaze carefully searched Blake's. "Honestly, I don't feel she would appreciate that," she acknowledged.

It was no surprise that her friend had also picked up on how Yang behaved towards her. "Of course. I understand," she gently offered, deciding to use this opportunity to probe the topic. "…How is she?"

They seemed to at once stopped walking, an unspoken understanding coursing between them. Weiss manifestly recognized that the faunus wanted to address that uncomfortably forced distance the blonde had clearly set her mind to maintain.

"She's…getting by," Weiss carefully started before giving a dejected sigh. "Our friends don't see it, but…" she trailed off, her gaze drifting down as she manifestly made sure to think through what she was about to say. Her cool blue orbs found Blake's again. "I know she wouldn't be happy with me telling anyone this, but I'm telling you this because it's  _you_ ," she added in what could only be a disclaimer. "She's… really not doing as well as she'd like everyone to think. Or really, as well as she's convinced herself she's doing—because she's  _somehow_  fooled herself into imagining that  _all this_ …is fine."

Blake hummed gently. "…But she didn't fool you," she indicated.

Weiss shook her head no. "No, she did," she disagreed. "I knew she wasn't fine, but she  _did_  fool me in the sense that… I hadn't realized just how much she was covering up until I started sharing rooms with her."

A short silence followed, as Blake was uncertain how to respond. She couldn't quite figure out why specifically sharing rooms made anything different.

Her hesitation evidently had Weiss realize she would need to state plain and clear what she meant because she continued. "She regularly has nightmares," she tersely clarified, to which Blake's blood at once drained from her face. The cool blue eyes found hers again. "And I don't mean simply the jumping-waking sort. I mean the... crying and screaming sort," she added.

Her heart plummeted in her stomach. Though it was more than obvious what may be causing them, the faunus still found herself inquiring. "Do you know what about…?"

It was with a dejected shake of her head that Weiss shrugged. "She refuses to talk about them," she explained. Her piercing blue orbs slid back up to lock together Blake's with an unsettling sharpness. "Though I'm sure you can venture an accurate guess at what they're about," she mused more quietly, "after all, she didn't have them before that night."

Unable to sustain the unforgivingness of the icy color, Blake's gaze dropped to the floor.

Weiss's voice was distinctly caustic this time. "Would you be surprised to know she keeps calling out for you in those nightmares?"

At this point, the blood had chilled in her veins such that she might've been quivering a bit. She balled her hands into fists to help steel herself, but her cats ears were nevertheless rigidly down. All this was no surprise at all—not if Yang was reliving that night over and over. Not if… in reliving that horrendous night, Yang kept searching for her in those nightmares the way she had then. And… Blake didn't want to allow herself to form the thought, but it still broke through anyways: not if Yang still yearned for her the way Blake direly hoped she did.

What however  _did_  take her aback was the overall impression of hostility her friend was projecting. "…Are you… angry with me?"

At this, the snow haired lady seemed to come aware of her demeanor and it promptly softened. "…Not... _angry_ ," Weiss sensibly rectified, evidently searching for a more accurate word. "It just… it's…" She gave a heavy sigh and turned to her, crossing her arms. She took a moment, staring up at her a contemplatively. "Remember when you first told me about you two? How emotional you were about your situation with her?"

The sudden throwback took her by surprise and the way her face burned let her guess how much she'd reddened. Blake nevertheless gave a small nod.

" _Then_ , I was angry. With her," Weiss conceded. "I didn't understand how she could be so timid and indecisive, so reluctant to just... go for it when you two were so crazy about each other, when her apprehension was hurting you so much. I wanted to slap some sense into her and make her fix the situation, like, yesterday," she explained, gesticulating heated as she manifestly let memories get the better of her emotions. As what she was about to say next came to her, her eyes fell on the floor and her arms very slowly dropped to her sides. "I didn't understand back then that she had… underlying issues. That there was a reason she was  _this_  scared of allowing herself to embrace what you made her feel and how much you meant to her. Or how much she needed you," she softly acknowledged, "and that it's probably the same reason she still doesn't want to rely on anyone either."

The clear blue of her so frank gaze had found Blake's again, Weiss took another moment to observe her pensively before she exhaled a quiet, so weary sigh. "That's why this time, instead of getting angry with you the way I'd been with her, I considered that you  _must_  have had reasons," she said, searching the faunus's features as if those answers would be readable plain and clear. "I know you've had a complicated life and that you've been haunted by past demons. And though I don't know anything about them, I assume they have to be  _bad_ …" she gave with a firmness that quickly melted into a sympathetic tone. "Because otherwise you wouldn't have done what you did. Because I  _know_  you loved her," Weiss added before she paused once more.

She didn't know when her heart had accelerated this much, but now her ears had perked with firmness and Blake felt herself filled with the need to assert, "I still do."

To which Weiss's gaze softened all the more. "So, you  _did_  have reasons to leave," she confirmed

Blake couldn't have explained why, but shame washed over her as her friend established this. "I did," she nevertheless confirmed.

There was another silence; her friend clearly was allowing her the space to open up about it if she wanted to, but Weiss didn't actually ask anything, apparently opting not to pry. She didn't let this gap stretch too long, having not been intending to pressure her; Weiss despondently resumed walking. "And see…. That's why I just  _can't_  be angry with you the same way I was angry with her. But I've…" she gave an unamused laughed. "It might be funny to hear but… given what pain I know she's in, I feel protective of her."

The faunus followed her friend down the hall and up the stairs. "I never meant to hurt her, you know that, right?"

"It wasn't the intent but it's still the outcome," Weiss painfully pointed out, slowly climbing up the stairs; she didn't glance back at her. "And no matter how many months it's been, the wound is still very wide open to the point that, just a few weeks ago, when she and I first met up again with Ruby, Yang was livid just at the  _mention_  of your name."

Blake was first sidetracked that Weiss and Yang would've been traveling together without Ruby, but her mind quickly made the leap to the essence of her friend's revelation. It was to be expected that, upon reuniting, her three teammates would inevitably have talked about their missing link. It wasn't surprising for Yang to have expressed anger then, in the privacy of a moment with just the three of them, and it seemed right that her doing so would've allowed her to subsequently gain better control of her emotions. Enough to, quite clearly, be able to face Blake again without blind anger anyways. The way Yang had faced her however was  _so far_  ahead of the anger Blake had expected, she couldn't help wondering what had been said between them for Yang to accept her so deceptively seamlessly.

Weiss's voice brought her back to her account as they reached the second floor. "Honestly, her anger  _seemed_  better after I talked to her, I thought she was going to be mostly fine," she retold as they walked down the hall. Blake noticed they passed four rooms before her friend stopped in front of the fifth; she assumed those were the ones occupied by the party of eight she was now joining. "But obviously, those nightmares quickly made it obvious I had only grazed the surface with her," she explained, as she let them into what would be Blake's room. The faunus took in the different set-up of this dorm room as Weiss simply leaned against one of the desks. "I don't know what it is," she thought out loud. "I don't know if it's her pride or some sort of fear that she's a burden, but it's… she just  _won't_  allow herself to lean on me."

Her friend's assessment wasn't entirely wrong, Blake idly reflected. What seemed like a lifetime ago, Yang had confided in her the reason it was that, though she would give selflessly to support the people she loved, she remained so insecure about allowing herself to need someone else in return. Blake knew it wasn't quite pride, while feeling like a burden might have been a consequence of it, but it nevertheless wasn't entirely wrong.

"What about Ruby?" She heard herself ask, wondering if, with how much their team leader seemed to have matured, if it might've changed the blonde's perspective with at last depending on her. "Did you ever get Ruby when…?"

Weiss shrugged. "Whenever I'd get woken up, Yang would be  _adamant_  we not disturb Ruby," she revealed. "In all honesty, I wouldn't be surprised if Yang kept so much from her that Ruby doesn't suspect her sister is still struggling at all," she then absentmindedly reflected out loud. Her gaze once more found focus on Blake. "In the end, all she ever let me do to comfort her is sit by her until she was asleep again."

Learning this, Blake's heart squeezed in her chest. Her eyes went from one of the tidily made up beds to the other one, picturing her two teammates. She didn't know if it would qualify as jealousy or resentment, but the thought of Weiss getting up in the middle of the night to attempt to comfort her blonde ex-partner made her shamefully miserable. Oh, not because she feared they might develop  _that_  kind of relationship, it was simply because… despite being responsible for this debacle in every way, she wanted to be the one, the  _only_  one, to share intimate moments like these with Yang. No matter the appalling situation she was responsible for bringing on the two of them, she still felt it was her rightful place and no one else's to be the one whose arms Yang would take refuge in.

"She would do that for me," Blake murmured, attempting to brush the undesirable feeling away.

"I know," came Weiss's unexpected answer.

Her head snapped towards her in surprise.

"What?" She pursed her lips. "Granted, I sleep more heavily than she does, but do you  _really_  think you never woke me up when you'd be that restless?" The snow-haired lady asked somewhat skeptically, to which Blake felt more than a little foolish. Weiss sighed gently. "I've seen her sit by you in the middle of the night," she nevertheless confirmed. "…And I hoped that having done it for you, she'd understand how deeply frustrating it is to see someone you care about so obviously struggling and yet still refuse support. I hoped that having been in my shoes, she'd open up, tell me what happened, what's tearing her apart this way, but… no," Weiss added more softly, almost instantly catching herself with a scoff. The gentle look of concern that had been subtly tainted with melancholy developed into something deeper as her eyes fogged up with sorrow. "No, instead I'll wake up to her trying to muffle her crying because she didn't want to wake me up, because she didn't want me to try to console her."

The scene painted itself so vividly in her mind that a vile mix of grief and shame nauseated her. She felt responsible, of course she did, because she was  _absolutely_ responsible.

"It's like she believes she has to shoulder everything alone, like she can't rely on Ruby or me or— ..." Weiss halted her thought abruptly.

"Or  _me_?" Blake finished the sentence, voicing what her friend evidently didn't to have the stomach to. "But I really proved her right on that one, didn't I?" she grimly muttered, almost more to herself than to her interlocutor. The awkwardness in the silence that fell between them was such that it couldn't be clearer that Weiss knew enough that she couldn't disagree with her. She knew enough that it made her uneasy—and that was without even knowing the entire picture!

It might have been impulse for penance or maybe she simply needed the weight of her failure off her chest, but Blake found herself continuing. "...Not only that—she was already fragile in that respect and I…I knew. And I made it worse," she confessed in a murmur, feeling her throat tightening painfully. "She'd told me before how she'd been let down and left behind by people she loved more times than anyone deserves, and I…  _promised_ her she could rely on me, that she could trust me and I would be there for her," she admitted. Her stomach turned with the emotion that now acutely blurred her senses. "She trusted me," she breathed, "and I…  _completely_  failed her."

The expression that unfurled on Weiss's features went from incredulousness into something akin to betrayal as she seemed to finally be piecing together why Yang was  _this_  upset and why she came to refuse any help anymore.

"...I couldn't put her in any more danger," Blake found herself justifying her actions pre-emptively. The words she heard herself say felt incredibly hollow for a reason she couldn't quite grasp.

This give her pause. Weiss frowned. "Are you saying her injury was your fault?"

"It  _is_ ," she confirmed. "And who knows what more harm she would've—... or you  _all_  would have risked had I stayed," she defended.

It was another moment and an increasingly puzzled frown before her snow-haired friend spoke again. "What are you saying? What happened?"

In a second, Blake seemed to remember how neither she nor Yang had been in any state to explain what had happened when she'd brought her back, Yang being unconscious, and Blake having been a frantic mess. Only moments after had Ruby and Weiss left to find Pyrrha… while as soon as she could muster some strength to move, Blake had made herself move and go.

The faunus now wondered… had her ex-partner told  _anyone_  how it went down? Did she retell the events to Ruby or her father? To her uncle? And if she did… what was  _her_  version of the story? Did she tell it with regret? Or anger? What had gone through her head when she'd seen Adam standing over Blake this way? Did she ever speak of that? Or had she buried that nightmare deep within herself? …And kept silent the magnitude of the sacrifice she'd made for Blake?

Disconcerted, she felt her fingers curl around the fabric of her white coat. "Did… Yang not tell you what happened?"

"No," Weiss promptly answered. "And it wasn't exactly easy to ask after a year separated, especially with how tormented she's been," she added, crossing her arms. "All I was able to gather was that…" she paused for a second, clearly discontent to have to verbalize this. "From the way you were apologizing to her then, that you felt responsible for what happened."

"That's because I am," Blake insistently reiterated.

The other woman, arms still crossed and in stern silence, evidently waited for her account.

Exhaling shakily, she braced herself to retell events she had fiercely kept to herself up until then. "Among the people from the White Fang who were helping Salem's agents… my… ex-partner was there," Blake started carefully.

"The one who you explained earlier overthrew the White Fang leader to go rogue?" Weiss established. "He was the one you compared Yang to when she was disqualified from the tournament, wasn't he?"

So ashamed to have ever thought there could be any sort of remote resemblance between the golden girl and that masked demon, Blake's head had dropped. "Yes," she nevertheless strenuously acquiesced. " _Him_ ," she muttered with profound disdain. "He was there, and he was… he was slaughtering humans," she divulged, eyes sliding to the blue ones. "Huntsmen trying to push back the Grimm, but also civilians and students," she specified, to which Weiss's shocked consternation progressed to plain horror.

"I know," Blake acknowledged before her friend could say anything, "I told you he's a monster," she pointed out quietly. Blake felt herself frown as it all started to come to her again. "And I couldn't let him just… run amok like that, so I engaged him. And I shouldn't have, I  _knew_ I shouldn't, but I couldn't just idly stand by and watch him inflict merciless carnage and destruction, watch him butchering  _innocents_ ," she explained, now searching her friend's features for some understanding, which unreservedly arose.

Blake gave a pale, mirthless sort of derisive laugh. "You know, he hasn't climbed the ranks of the White Fang solely on his hatred. He's powerful; his semblance is ludicrous and he's  _ridiculously_  skilled. I was technically his partner, but I've never been his equal, not even close. That's why I'd previously described him as my mentor," she clarified, explaining to her friend what she'd only vaguely glossed over a year ago. "I  _tried_ fighting him, but… when Yang found me... he… h-he had his sword buried in me," she quietly said as she rested her hand on her stomach, where she knew Weiss would remember she'd been wounded during the Fall of Beacon. Her fingers idly stroked the scar that visibly remained. "So, she… Yang lost her arm trying to rescue me. It was for me," she murmured. "I'm alive because she recklessly threw herself at him."

"How can you blame yourself for this?" Weiss shot in mixed empathy and incredulity. "Yang would—"

"I  _know_ she would've stepped in for any of us," Blake cut in. "As…I think, any of us would've done for each other."

The question left up in the air was written all over her friend's face; why agonize over this if you  _know_  we all reciprocate this devotion?

"If I hadn't engaged him, she wouldn't have had to put herself at risk this way," she started, and Weiss looked like she wanted to argue, but Blake continued. "That's not all there is," she warned, silencing her before she could challenge her further. They stared at each other as Blake gathered both her words and guts. "Above all, the circumstances were…" she picked up again but trailed off, unable to accurately describe how terrifyingly orchestrated by destiny said circumstances had felt. "Adam is…cruel," she carefully gave. "…And spiteful, and  _hateful_  and—… and… jealous," she added, maintaining her friend's piercing stare.

"Jealous," Weiss noted.

Blake knew what the insinuated question was, but she didn't want to get into this. She didn't want to start explaining how foolish she'd been or how much he'd abused her. "Yes," she simply gave.

In a lingering silence, the unspoken understanding that Blake wouldn't open that box now passed between them. It wasn't the story she was telling right now, and if she had to be completely honest, Blake wasn't quite ready to tell it.

Her gaze dropped again, absentmindedly glaring at the tip of her feet. "He wanted to torture me and beating me down wasn't enough for him, of course not," she muttered. "No, he's so vicious and bitter that he needed even more and… he…" she exhaled shakily. The sharp and chillingly clear memory of that night, of him leaning over her came to her vividly. The smell of blood and burning in the air, its scorching, suffocating heat, the sharp pain in her stomach and the vision of a demonic, looming figure. As the horror of it all made her body numb and her senses hazy, she felt her heart crushed with anguish. "He stared down at me that night and  _vowed_  he would destroy everything I loved," she whispered achingly. "And… like fate had served her on a platter, Yang found me the  _very moment_ he uttered these words," Blake explained, struggling to push her wavering voice through her tight throat. She gasped gently, feeling a tear roll down her cheek and, quickly wiping it away, she sniffed.

"Weiss," she called, glancing up to her friend. Weiss was indubitably caught up in her story, with the pain, concern, and emotion plainly visible on her features. "I don't think  _anyone_ could've misread how I looked at her then," she revealed. "In a second, he went from not knowing who she was to absolutely abhorring her. Everything about him told how much he wanted to torture and…  _brutalize_  her, both for his own begrudging self-satisfaction and to torment me. He knew making her suffer would hurt me more than any abuse he could inflict on me." With this, Blake exhaled shortly, taking a proper hold of herself. She wiped her cheeks and eyes once more, though there hadn't been more tears. Her voice sounded much clearer when she was finally able to speak again. "Once we'd escaped him, I... was  _terrified_ he'd put his mind to hunting her down. To killing her. I couldn't be around any of you, I didn't want to put you all in danger," she concluded, wrapping up her account in order to go back to what had originally prompted her to relate it at all. "He… even tried to have my parents killed."

Weiss finally seemed to be able to find her voice. "Does Yang know about any of this?"

Blake shook her head with a defeated shrug. "It doesn't matter anymore," she answered in resignation. "She's agreed to let me be around her, it's more than I could've ever wished," she admitted. "I thought if I was ever able to see her again, I'd never see anything else than her angry red. I won't dare hope for anything more than the truce she's offering me."

"You can't seriously want to settle with that," Weiss disapprovingly interjected.

"I don't  _want_  to," Blake corrected, "but it's not like I have any other choice, do I? I have no right to ask for another chance after hurting her the way I did— I mean, I don't know how I'd even  _get_  another chance. Yang has obviously set her mind to burying this and whatever had been between us along with it."

"Are you saying you think she moved on?"

This somehow stung so massively that Blake's already deteriorating mood abruptly crashed. "Moved on?" she repeated. The term sounded like an attack because, after all, what had been between them ended up being nothing more than ' _almost'_. With her distress, she felt negativity permeate her mind like shadows unfurling before a storm and she couldn't help the words that passed her lips. "She would need to have loved me to start with to move on from anything, wouldn't she?"

Weiss jolted upright, stomping her feet as she did so. "Don't you  _dare_ ," she sharply warned, the tone of her voice so vehemently uncompromising, it cut straight down through Blake's imminent plummeting into old patterns of sardonicism. If Weiss hadn't been angry with her moments earlier, she undeniably was now. "Are you hearing yourself?" she scolded, "Don't you have  _any idea_  how much you mean to her?"

Though her friend's reprimand undeniably had smitten enough sense into her that Blake was able to hit the brakes on her downward spiraling, she remained pitifully diffident. "Did she  _tell_  you she loved me?"

At this, Weiss wordlessly stared her down. She obviously didn't want to answer, and Blake couldn't tell if it meant yes or no. She squinted her cool blue eyes into that piercing stare only she could give. "It's indisputable that you mattered more than  _anything_ to her," Weiss argued, avoiding the question.

The faunus knew there was no point in what she was about to say because those two types of love couldn't be fairly compared, but she still couldn't help pointing out: "You're forgetting about Ruby."

"Oh, I'm not," Weiss sharply objected, " _you_  unquestionably were Yang's number one priority."

Blake frowned. "But—"

"If you weren't," Weiss cut in, "how do you explain that on that night she went to search for you and not Ruby?"

Completely blindsided, she couldn't even seem to comprehend what had been said, to which her friend had the oddest pause, as she evidently came to realize Blake had been missing an important piece of the puzzle.

Weiss carefully leaned closer, examining her. "You didn't realize she'd…?" She blinked rapidly several times in confusion. "Remember, we went for coffee and watched from there Pyrrha's match against… Penny? And how when everything collapsed… none of us could reach Ruby on her scroll?"

Blake nodded silently. Of course, she remembered. There was no part of that night that hadn't been indelibly seared into her mind.

"When you spoke to Yang," Weiss resumed, "she told us she'd be heading to the docks, where  _I_  stayed to fight the berserk Paladins with everyone else. You went off after some members of the White Fang," she recapped. "By the time Yang met up with me, we didn't know whether either of you were safe. And yet she told me to look for Ruby before she went after  _you_ ," Weiss revealed. "I didn't make that choice. She did."

As her friend retold this last part, the part Blake hadn't been there for, the one there was no way she could've known, her shock and incredulity deconstructed itself on her features. She could barely assimilate the concept on account of the sheer magnitude of its implications.

"Blake," Weiss called, holding her gaze intently. " _Our world was ending,_ and Yang  _still_ felt the need to make sure you were safe before making sure Ruby was safe," she reiterated. "What do you  _think_  this means?"

Shakily finding her voice again, Blake tried to regroup her thoughts. "I… We—I…. I mean, when I dragged her back, you were all together. I thought she entrusted Ruby to you, that she left her with you before she came for me."

With a shake of her head, her friend still steadily observed her. "Ruby was nowhere to be seen" she reconfirmed. "She nevertheless chose you."

Blake's gaze fell to the floor again, this time in shocked realization. It had always been an incontestable, inflexible  _fact_  to her that Yang would always choose Ruby; after all, since childhood, Yang's entire life had  _always_  revolved around Ruby, and, as Blake had gotten to learn about her ex-partner's past trauma, she had come to understand it was very much a self-defense mechanism…but she had nevertheless made her peace with coming second to the woman she loved.

Learning that Yang had allowed herself to prioritize  _her_  over Ruby… It had not only been an indubitable first step in making her life her own, in finally moving past her trauma, but it also spoke to just how much Blake had meant to her.

And Blake had wrecked  _everything_.

"She chose me," she whispered, as if she needed to say it out loud to be able to digest the information. It put in perspective the wall Yang had now erected between them and, along with it, the utter betrayal it must have been that, after making such a leap of faith, after overcoming her hard-wired response of always prioritizing her sibling… Blake, in return, had abandoned her. "She chose me," she repeated, feeling the shame of her actions hastily disintegrate into wretched misery, "and now she sees it as mistake."

"Even if she did, you  _can't_  blame her!" Weiss countered, not allowing her to sink back into self-pity. "The  _one time_  she chose anyone over her sister, you said it yourself, she was proven wrong to do so! Not because she got mutilated but because, the way she sees it, she chose you and you didn't choose her back! You  _left_ her!" she vented in utter disbelief, reminding her that it wasn't her place to mope in all this. " _Of course,_  she's trying to protect herself now! She doesn't want to risk exposing herself to the same heartbreak you put her through— who would?" Weiss stared at her incredulously as she paused to let the concept sink in.

The concept did sink in, exceptionally brutally at that.

 _Heartbreak_.

It felt like her own heart collapsed in her chest. Had she broken Yang's heart…? Simply for having been scared? Scared of  _Adam_?

No, it didn't feel quite right… and she was taken with the growing awareness that something else was lurking within her. After all, wasn't it too convenient to solely project on him the blame for a decision  _she_ 'd taken? It wasn't like running away had been a new response for her—it was in fact a very clear pattern. Then… the question arose again; was it without argument, wholly and exclusively  _his_  fault that she hadn't been there? Because if it was, then she shouldn't be feeling accountable for Yang's heartache, and she'd have no reason to be passive or meek in her presence, right? Yet the simple idea of not feeling a guilty for all of it was ludicrous because… she  _was_  guilty. For that, as well as Yang's injury. In fact, she was so guilty and  _so_  focused on the guilt and what shame it all brought her, that she hadn't thoroughly conceptualized the ramifications of her leaving at the moment she'd taken that decision.

This last thought brought with it ravaging clarity. At the back of her mind, she'd certainly known it wouldn't be painless for her ex-lover, but she had rationalized her actions by reminding herself of Adam's threat, or that Yang  _must_  hate her already anyways because she'd blame her for the maiming. And Blake wondered… had she been aware of the choice Yang had made on that day, would it have prevented her from relaying to the back of her mind the pain she knew deserting would cause? Because being face to face with the fact that Yang had chosen her against all odds would certainly have given her some perspective on how much Yang was ready to sacrifice for her… and she wouldn't have been able to convince herself that Yang would hate her over her injury. And so, she'd have been unable to ignore how leaving would mean… destroying her.

So… would knowing have prevented her from leaving? She couldn't tell. And the very fact that she had doubts about this horrified her. Because if she couldn't securely affirm in all honesty that had she known, she'd been able to overcome her urge to run…then it brought her back to her own deeply ingrained flaw.

So, what? Had she broken Yang's heart over being scared… and  _weak_?

Was this debacle's main culprit in fact that weakness of hers which she loathed above all, the thing she had resolved to eradicate? The very thing that she'd fought so desperately fiercely to overcome as she faced her past—her parents, the White Fang, Ilia…? The very weakness she was well on her way to smother and annihilate? The same one that had been creeping on her even in this very conversation? That revulsive mix of spinelessness and unworthiness that had only ever amounted in bringing her shame and guilt? Her  _inexcusable_  cowardice?

As she grasped this much-needed insight, again that feeling of resolve sparked deep within her. She  _couldn't_  let that weakness win, she'd dedicated herself to breaking the pattern, to atoning for her mistakes and to finding peace—she couldn't lay down and surrender to it now, not when she'd just reached her most important challenge.

Blake felt herself wholly ablaze with fervent determination. Yes, she  _would_  conquer that challenge—she'd show Yang that she was strong enough now to stand with her. She wouldn't crumble again. Never again.

"I'm sorry," Weiss gave more gently, drawing her attention back to the conversation. She gave a dejected sigh, staring at her hesitantly. "I didn't mean to attack you… It's just..." She trailed off, not knowing how to finish her thought. Weiss shook her head almost imperceptibly. "The point is… It's only expected that she's trying to protect herself," she tried.

"... _But_ ," she stressed, her manner at once losing its dejection and lassitude in favor of sharpening with Weiss's more characteristic decisiveness. "Blake, no matter what, don't let her push you away," she pled. "She can't nurse that wound by herself and... I've  _tried_  helping her, being there for her, but… that mask she's wearing, she simply refuses to take it off. Even though it's dreadfully fissured and she knows I see through it. She just won't remove it…" she trailed off. "… not for  _me_ ," she then underlined, implicitly allowing the notion that Yang would for someone else. The pale blue of her eyes as she searched Blake's golden seemed almost grey with empathetic sorrow. Weiss's shoulders slumped slightly. "She…  _needs_  someone to save her for once. And we both know it's you she's been waiting for."

Without daring to linger on it, without daring to give herself so much importance, it was something she'd nevertheless known deep down. Yang was waiting for her. Yang  _wanted_  her to come to her. Hearing it from someone who knew them both so very well fed the flame that had ignited inside herself and Blake's entire body, up to her cat ears, straightened with determination. "I'm done running," she avowed. "I've set my mind to show her she  _can_  rely on me. I'd rather die before I let her down again."

Her firmness seemed to take her teammate aback and Weiss stared back a little blankly. "Please don't die," she flatly answered. "I won't forgive you if you die."

"It won't come to that," Blake offered.

"It better not," she sourly shot back.  


* * *

  
She'd barely gotten any sleep; how could she? How was she expected to, with everything that had happened? With everything she'd learned? With her friends on the other side of the wall…? With Yang… so close for the first time in a year yet further than she'd ever been? Blake couldn't help keeping an ear out, wondering if the walls of this dorm were thinner than Beacon's… if per chance she'd hear her, were Yang to have a nightmare. She'd braced herself for it, running about a thousand scenarios in her head. Wondering… if she  _did_  hear her, should she go see her? How could she resist attempting to comfort her if she were to hear her? Would Yang be angry if she did show up to comfort her? She'd be in the middle of a storm of raw emotions, so it wouldn't be farfetched to think she'd blow up at her. But at least that atrocious mask would be taken off. Would it therefore prompt the talk they needed to have? Blake was preparing herself for it, trying to think of what millions of ways Yang could blow up at her. Trying to think of what she could tell her, of how to apologize.

But she didn't hear Yang. The only thing there had been to hear that night were quiet footsteps unhurriedly pacing the hall, which, hearing them several times that night, she'd dismissed as someone posted as on-watch.

Blake twisted and turned in her bed, listening to those footsteps and the lack of agitation in the neighboring room. She wondered if Weiss would come and get her, were Yang to have a nightmare. Or would she not want to upset the blonde any further by bringing in the object of her torment? Though Weiss  _did_  say Yang would likely only open up for Blake. Which meant that chances were, if anything happened, Weiss  _would_  come and get her. Blake stared up at the ceiling of this unfamiliar room.

She gave up on sleep as the sun rose, opting to busy herself with one of the million tasks ahead of them.

Until it'd been time for part two of their meeting, the one in which they'd set out to solve the logistics of stabilizing the unrest in Mistral while leaving for Atlas as soon as possible, Blake spent the morning helping her parents reorganize the trip back to Menagerie. The supplies, the people, the prisoners… there was  _a lot_  to do. What came as a pleasant surprise in all this, were the faunus who volunteered to stay, an effort to fill in the thinned-out ranks of Mistral's Huntsmen and help in its protection. It was information she was glad to be able to bring to the meeting, as it alleviated a lot of the concern of them leaving for Atlas. As they wrapped up, what ended up being decided in short was that they'd wait a week or so before leaving, it should be enough time for the unrest to stabilize and the population to feel safe. This would also allow them time to help reinstate some form of trustworthy authority over Haven academy and help a bit with cleaning up the damage, all the while preparing for the dangerous journey ahead.

In other news, she was delighted that Sun had found his team, both because they needed all the help they could get, but also because she admittedly wanted to devote all the time she could to her own team to bond again. Which she did; after the meeting, she tagged along with her team leader. Ruby briefed her on how they had been running things since they had taken residence in the dorm. She explained everything from how they'd taken turns in training for the impending showdown to how they'd separated chores. As it turned out, it was the red girl's turn to prepare lunch for everyone. Well—she was to cut and prepare the ingredients. Actual  _cooking_  would then be taken over by someone who… wouldn't burn and over-flavor everything. Blake swiftly volunteered to give a hand, happy to be of any sort of service.

"Thanks for helping!" Ruby exclaimed, laying out a variety of ingredients.

"It's only natural I pull my weight," Blake offered in return, busying herself tying her hair up into a ponytail. As she washed her hands, she also started rinsing the vegetables that her friend had produced.

In turn, Ruby set up cutting boards and grabbed freshly washed potatoes and, as they settled into their tasks, it wasn't long before she dove into casual chat again. "So…" Ruby started with what sounded like a feigned air of indifference, "…you went home? …With Sun?"

Up until here, conversation had been on practical points, on catching up, on reminiscing. Blake felt that this seemingly innocuous question wasn't as purposeless as her friend wanted to make it appear. "I did," she confirmed plainly.

The odd silence from the short-haired team leader drew her gaze again.

It indisputably looked like she wanted to inquire further, and it wasn't hard to figure out what that might be. "He followed me, I didn't invite him," she offered, certain Ruby was bothered with the possibility of Blake favoring him over her team.

"He did, huh," she mused out loud, frowning thoughtfully as she peeled potatoes.

It was somewhat of a surprise that her clarification hadn't satisfied her friend's interest in Blake's unintentionally accompanied journey. Ruby looked like she was ruminating either the notion, or something else she wanted to ask about. Or maybe if she wanted to inquire any further at all? Blake was terribly surprised by her next question.

"He followed because he likes you, right?"

To Blake's knowledge, this was the first time her younger friend showed any sort of interest in matters of the heart. She had to wonder if it was because Ruby had grown in the year that had gone by, if she'd started developing personal interest in romance... or if maybe there was another reason she would be concerned with Blake's love life.

The dark haired faunus hummed uncommittedly. "He said it was because he wanted to help me on my 'one-woman rampage' against the White Fang," she explained, "but that admittedly might also have helped motivate him."

She nodded, returning her attention to potato peeling for what was bound to be a very short moment; Blake kept staring at her, expecting the inevitable follow-up.

Ruby cleared her throat. "...And uh…so… are you two…?"

"There's nothing of that sort between him and I, Ruby," she affirmed, to which her friend seemed downright relieved. It wasn't too hard to connect the dots; Blake concluded Ruby  _had_  to have been aware of the nature of Yang's feelings towards her. Either because the blonde had talked to her sister as she said she would before everything collapsed, or because… following those very events, some feelings might have been made obvious by Yang's reaction to Blake's absence. Determining this might be a good opportunity to probe the topic, the faunus volunteered a bit more information. "And there won't ever be either," she revealed, "I'm not into guys."

"You're n—... _Oh_!" Ruby looked undeniably  _delighted_  with learning this, which only confirmed Blake's speculations. Her younger friend turned to her in excitement. "Is that new?" she eagerly pressed, but quickly caught herself. "I mean—is it new that you know, because  _obviously_ it can't be  _new_ -new, I know that's not how it works," she blabbered.

Having finished rinsing the vegetables, she elected to start helping her teammate with the peeling part. "I've known since about sometime through our first semester at Beacon," she admitted.

Her eyebrows went up in keen surprise, potatoes forgotten. "Even as far as back then?"

Blake started peeling. "I wasn't as comfortable with it being known, but yes," she confirmed.

Ruby scooted conspicuously closer. " _So_ ," she started again, manifestly trying to suppress her giddiness, "had anyone caught your eye, maybe? Back then?"

Blake turned to look at her. "Ruby, you really don't have to take detours if you want to know about what's between Yang and me. I'll answer your questions."

Her blank stare was accompanied by an embarrassed blush for being called out on how blatant her questioning was. Silver eyes darted to the kitchen counter. Blake found it terribly amusing.

Quickly, an incongruously wide smile spread on her features. "How did you know this was about Yang?"

"Did you expect any other name than your sister's to come up when you asked me if I was interested in anyone?"

"...No," she admitted sheepishly.

"Then it shouldn't surprise you that I knew this was about her, shouldn't it?"

" _Right_ ," Ruby embarrassedly acknowledged, quickly returning to her task.

There was a small silence as they both worked. The shorter girl was fidgety and decidedly looked like she was gathering up her nerve and Blake very much expected this not to be over.

Eventually, she dared to glance at the faunus again. "This means you…  _like_  Yang, right?" she confirmed.

"Yes, very much," Blake conservatively offered.

Ruby stared at her more openly now, with what could only be called hope. "You mean for real, right? Like romantically?"

She paused what she was doing to return her gaze. "Extremely romantically."

Reddening even more, she gauchely busied herself once more with the food, an unabashed smile stubbornly stretching her features.

Blake watched her curiously. It was obviously very much out of Ruby's comfort zone to be conversing about matters of the heart, but it also was very much like her to keep pushing herself outside of her comfort zone. It nevertheless was massively different to be discussing this with her compared to Weiss. Blake didn't even want to  _think_  about how her younger friend would react were she to learn that her sister and she had in fact been much closer than she could imagine. Golden eyes drifted to the vegetables she'd washed, and she absentmindedly resumed cutting.

As she thought through the exchange that had just taken place, there was one question that she just couldn't seem to dismiss. Blake thought it might not be too inappropriate to ask. "Is it that my feelings for her are just that obvious?" Others had seen though her, so it wasn't implausible Ruby had too… but there was however an explanation far likelier here. "Or… is all this about something Yang said or did…?"

"Oh, it was something she said," Ruby nonchalantly replied. "Way back. Right before her match in the Vytal tournament."

This took her back to that day in their dorm room, that blissful day they'd shared before everything went downhill at horrifying speed, and a wave of decidedly tender warmth washed over her with nostalgia. "So, she  _did_  talk to you," Blake mused out loud.

Ruby turned to her in surprise. "She told you she would?"

The soft smile she'd retained only got gentler. "She did."

A thoughtful frown cutely crinkled her forehead as she evidently was adding up what she'd just learned to what she knew. "…So, back then, you were already dating?" she tried.

"We weren't dating or anything official like that," Blake corrected quietly with a disconsolate shake of her head. She gave a pause, re-evaluating how her answer implied that they did have something, albeit unofficially, and decided it was only fair that she voiced it. "We weren't dating, but there was  _something_. It'd be a lie to tell you there wasn't," she gently added.

"So  _that's_ why Yang said that she was on her way to seducing you!"

That Yang would've claimed this amused her more than it should have. "Maybe _I_  was the one who was seducing  _her_ ," Blake countered, to which Ruby laughed.

"When was that happening?" she playfully shot.

"When we were alone."

Blake had answered without thinking and heard her own voice waver as memories of their alone time filled her senses. The fluctuation had been marked enough that her teammate paused to glance at her. Blake stayed very focused on the carrots she was chopping.

After another moment of silence, Ruby hummed lightly. "Now that I think about it," she started again, "you two really  _did_ spend a lot of time alone together."

They truly did, and most of that time had been very innocent. It'd only been a bit over the last month that they had together that things had escalated beyond friendship. Before that time… they just somehow ended up secluding themselves to be in each other's company.

"When you have feelings for someone," Blake began, "you want to spend as much time as you can with them, whether your feelings are unrequited or not," she gently explained. "I was happy just lounging around with her, talking with her, being silly together," she added, finding herself smiling at those precious memories. "I didn't linger on it then… or I didn't  _want_  to linger on it because I'd yet to own up to what it all meant to me, but looking back, it seems so obvious that if I would make this much time and room for her, it was simply because I was crazy about her."

Thinking back on all those days, on all those times they'd somehow found themselves alone, on how cozy, warm and downright intimate these moments had been, Blake could only be amazed she'd never noticed what was brewing between them. "Looking back, I also see… it probably meant something that she too made that space for me," she reflected, feeling nostalgia constrict her chest. "I guess we needed to be together, just the two of us, so we could learn about what… what was happening between us. And, as things progressed further…what we wanted from each other and for… maybe, for the future." The more she thought about those days, the more she realized it really shouldn't have been a surprise to her that they'd reach a point where things naturally escalated to physical love. "…And we…" she tried again, "we…" But now she seemed to at once come aware of the word she was using. "There certainly was a 'we'," Blake gently mused out loud. "Only it was really blurry what that 'we' was or what it meant."

Ruby had stopped her work again to listen to her, openly invested in what Blake had been recounting. She sported an incredibly cute expression; her mouth had tightened into nothing more than a small dot of a smile. "You said… 'things progressed further'," she repeated.

Blake wondered if what that suggested was clear enough that the other girl would understand. "…Yes, to say it graciously," she gave.

But no, she was still far too innocent in this respect. "Does this mean you kissed?"

' _Among other things_ ,' was what came to mind, but Blake wasn't about to offer this answer. "What do you think we liked being alone for?" She teasingly gave, earning herself a disbelieving sort of entertained gasp from her friend.

"I had no idea!"

Blake laughed. "And yet we weren't being subtle at all," she shot back. A certain morning came to mind, when Yang had enthusiastically had her way with her in the bathroom, nearly getting themselves caught by Ruby herself.

They settled in a pleasantly comfortable silence, both of them evidently contemplating those worry-free days. They leisurely kept peeling and cutting vegetables for such an extended moment that were almost done when Ruby addressed her with another question.

"Did you wanna try again? To be with her?"

Blake nodded, though her friend wasn't looking at her. "It's my intention."

"That'd officially make us sisters wouldn't it?" she excitedly pointed out.

"…Depending on whether she's still interested," the faunus allowed. "You think she is?"

"I don't know for sure," Ruby energetically gave, "but with how special you were to her, I can't imagine it being gone."

Blake couldn't tell if that was Ruby's interpretation, her wishful thinking… or if perchance Yang had told her something that allowed her to affirm this. She kept staring at her expectantly, waiting for her to expand on her thought, but the younger girl just busied herself cleaning up. Unable to let it, go, Blake eventually cleared her throat. "Would you mind…telling me why you think I was… special...? To her?"

Ruby paused to turn her way. She wiped her hands of the water on a dishcloth and leaned against the kitchen counter. "Yang's not really open about the way she feels," she began, taking a moment to consider what she was about to say.

"It took me a while to notice because she's always been so cheerful and easygoing. And, to me, she's always been… just always  _there_. Like the sun; bright and warm and constant," she explained, her clear silver finding golden. "I know some people would find it sad that my sister was the one who mostly raised me and that I didn't really… have my parents present the way most other kids do, but I really couldn't have asked for more. Yang was perfect. When I dreamed of something, she'd make it come true. When I needed anything, she'd make it appear. When I was sad or scared, she'd chase it away somehow. She took care of me and supported me and has  _always_ been there for me." Up until here, Ruby's manner had been earnestly inspired and positive, but then something in her gaze gave, and she stopped smiling. "She always made everything about me." She then seemed to catch herself and looked to Blake again. "It's not that I'm ungrateful or anything! I'm  _very_  grateful for everything she's given me!"

"You didn't come off as ungrateful," she reassured. She could start to see what Ruby wanted to say. "She made everything about you, so you felt she didn't leave room for herself?" That sounded like Yang alright.

She hummed in approval. "Growing up, I hadn't stopped to think about it but… back at Beacon, I'd started to notice how she didn't really… or didn't  _ever_  talk about her own dreams or hopes for the future or… just what  _she_  wants. And I was starting to get worried," she admitted dejectedly. Her smile then promptly returned, stretching her features very warmly. "But then she told me about wanting to be with you!" she exclaimed excitedly. "I think it was the first time Yang brought up her own happiness to me. Before that, she'd never really…  _asserted_  anything she wanted. She'd just shrug and smile and casually go with what I wanted or what was best for me. But not this. This… it was something she found she wanted, and it was for herself and  _only_ for herself," she said, a sort of knowing sparkle to her eye. "Her very own treasure."

Blake didn't know when she'd stopped breathing, but she knew she was red to the tip of her cat ears. She embarrassedly turned her stare down to the chopping board under her hands.

"You made her want to live her own life," Ruby pointed out, drawing her attention again. The red-hooded girl was smiling even wider. "That's how I know you're special."

She didn't quite know what to say to this. This corroborated what had come out of the conversation she'd had with Weiss—that Blake held unique importance to Yang— only with a different, very tender perspective to it. She watched as Ruby resumed cleaning up, throwing away refuse and putting away what they didn't need. Blake silently went back to work too.

It wasn't too long after that Jaune trotted into the kitchen. "We're here to take over," he announced, tying Ren's pink apron around himself. "Thank you for the prep," he added, to which Ruby gave a vigorous nod and a smile.

"Who's on duty with you for lunch?"

Jaune gave an uncomfortable pause in which he not so furtively glanced at Blake. "Hmm. Yang is. She should be here any minute."

It didn't come as a surprise that the blonde brawler would be left in charge of the kitchen; she and Ren were probably the only two competent cooks. It only made sense that they'd take different shifts overviewing the food preparation. Blake wondered if, with the way he'd said it, Jaune had meant to give her leeway to leave before Yang arrived. He, like everyone else, would have been aware of the tension between them, but… he had no way of knowing that Blake had set her mind to not let that dishearten her and push through it. With the firm intention of waiting for her, Blake simply resumed busying herself with chores.

"Alright!" Yang's voice energetically boomed as she waltzed into the kitchen. "Fire up the ovens, we—" Her eyes fell on Blake and her million lien attitude took an abrupt dive. Without another word, Yang simply strode to the cupboards for pots and pans.

The faunus's gaze followed her ex-partner, but she could see out of the corner of her eye both her friends exchange an awkward glimpse. Undeterred, Blake stepped towards the tall blonde. "Would it be okay if I stayed to help?"

She shrugged. "We don't need help," she said. "We'll be fine."

Jaune clearly didn't agree. "Really? I mean three would—"

"It's  _fine_ ," Yang sternly stressed, "they don't need to stay, they did their part."

Her uncompromising rebuttal drove him to drop his argument before he even made it, and the young man hurriedly busied himself with greasing pots and starting the cooking process.

She then swiftly turned to her sister, waving her hand in an ousting gesture. "Now go, Ruby, out. Get out," she ordered her with a smile.

Ruby glanced to the faunus. "We could—"

"Just  _go_ ," Yang pressed. It was a small pause, and, for the second time, it felt like she  _forced_  herself look at Blake. "You too," she said with that horrendously hollow smile. "You're free. You don't need to stay."

It didn't go unnoticed to her how Yang not only avoided to say her name  _again_ … she also hadn't ordered her to leave the way she'd done with Ruby.

"I want to stay," Blake maintained.

"You really don't need to."

"But I  _want_  to."

"We're good."

"Let me help."

"There's no need."

"I  _want_  to help you," Blake insisted.

Her smile fell. " _I don't need help_ ," Yang vehemently asserted.

The hostility in what she projected had a sudden silence fall on the room. It took a couple of seconds for the tension to drop, and Ruby gently rested her hand on her arm. "Come on, Blake," she urged. "We should go."

Deciding it might be best to try again later, when they'd be alone, the dark haired faunus complied. With a last look to the brawler, who'd gone on to busy herself with the meal, she followed her younger friend out.

"It's okay, it'll get better," Ruby encouraged. "Right now… I think she's just a bit weird 'cause she doesn't know how to be around you after all that time apart. But it'll get better."

Blake hummed in acknowledgement even if she didn't agree. After all, she knew the distance wasn't all there was, and things would certainly not simply get better, not without talking it through. But they  _would_  get better, because Blake would  _make_  it better. And that started with tearing down that mask Yang was wearing and treating the wound instead of attempting to cover it up and ignore it.

It was late into the evening that Weiss pulled her to the side to inform her the blonde had retired to their room to do her periodical maintenance on her prosthesis. Blake didn't need her teammate to spell it out; this was her chance to talk to Yang alone.

With a deep, nervous breath, she made herself head to the second floor of the dorm. She had wanted this opportunity, nevertheless, she knew very well how hard it'd be on the both of them, and the anticipation made her stomach tighten and her fingers cold.

The door to Weiss and Yang's room was only half-closed, enough to allow her to concentrate on what she was doing without completely secluding herself. Blake leaned in the doorway, watching her in silence for a long time. Eventually, Yang seemed to be done with whatever maintenance she'd been doing; she quickly drummed her mechanical fingers on the desk and then testingly twisted the wrist before moving the entire arm. Her prosthesis' response must have satisfied her because she then quickly put away the small kit she'd been using to care for it. It was as she stood from her seat at that desk that the blonde finally noticed her. Her entire body language and demeanor changed from insouciant and relaxed to something cautious and guarded, not unlike what it had been when everyone else was around… but now that they were alone, it was unequivocally somber. It was unlike it'd ever been around Blake.

She straightened up too, willing herself to grasp the moment before Yang slipped through her fingers again. "What was that earlier?"

"What was what?" She reticently muttered, evidently playing dumb.

"You know what," Blake frowningly retorted, to which Yang's gaze fell to the floor. Her lips tightened for a second, her ears twitching as she shakily inhaled again. "Look… I know you're trying really hard to make this reunion painless for the team," she said, acknowledging the other woman's efforts in keeping encounters as civilized as possible. "But this... isn't going to fix itself. It won't just go away. We need to talk."

The brawler quickly turned back to the wooden desk, evidently looking for something to busy herself with; she had to settle with needlessly rearranging the racer vest she'd hung off the chair she'd been sitting on. "There's nothing to talk about," she answered.

"You know that's not true," the faunus countered on a quiet, pleading tone.

Yang shrugged, still committed to the distance she tried to create between them. "We're all gonna work together, aren't we? ...We're all here… aren't we?" she reminded her. "That's all that matters."

Blake exhaled softy. She'd truly hoped that as soon as they'd be alone, the other woman would blow up at her. Because at least if she'd say something,  _anything_  to acknowledge that things weren't fine, then there would be substance to work with and Blake would be able to make some progress in healing whatever may be left of… … well, at the very least, their friendship. Her hand was on the doorframe, as if leaning on something stable would help provide her support as she headed into what promised to be a difficult exchange. "You saved my life that night," she stated, trying to force the conversation to somewhere her ex-partner would finally feel challenged enough to be authentic.

"You saved mine when you brought me back to where our friends were," Yang shot back, stubbornly refusing to take the bait. "There's nothing to talk about. We're even."

"We're not," Blake maintained. "That's not the same and you know it; being able to pull you from immediate danger is nothing compared to the way you dove towards it to rescue me," she uncompromisingly argued. "Had you not done what you did, he might've killed me."

The blonde didn't answer this time. Both her hands were tightly clamped onto the back of the chair her vest was draped over, her gaze obstinately riveted to the desk.

"You saved my life at the risk of your own and paid a price I could never repay and I—..." Her voice died in her throat, Blake had to push through to keep talking. "And in return, I failed you," she conceded unsteadily. Intense shame washed over her as she was hit with the awareness of how much of an understatement that was, and Blake steeled herself; she had to say it before she lost her nerve. "No, not just failed," she acknowledged "I… I did the very worst thing I could do to you."

Her jaw was tightly clenched, and it almost looked like she was about to crush the chair with her hands so rigidly she held onto it. No matter how she might have wished to appear unaffected and indifferent, her emotions were clearly getting the better of her, though the color of her eyes had yet to change. She still obstinately held her tongue.

Blake realized she'd been holding her breath. She wouldn't let up simply because the other woman had opted to barricade herself in silence. Without taking her eyes off the blonde, she cautiously shut the door behind herself to form a private space for this conversation. "I need you to know… despite what you may think, you've been on my mind all this time," she tried, hoping to get the conversation going.

It didn't. However, that fearsome red dyed her irises and it finally felt to the dark haired faunus that whatever pretense Yang had been trying to maintain was starting to crumble. At this point, all she wanted was to prompt honest words from her ex-partner. "I can't begin to tell you how happy I am to be around you again."

Her red eyes slid towards Blake to spear into her.

Yang used to dislike for her to have to stare back into that aggressive color; after all her eyes were ever only red when she used her semblance or when she was angry— which translated to either danger or negative emotions. Blake herself never had been bothered by it before, but then again, that color never had been directly addressed to her before either… and though it didn't make her feel threatened at all, the color's connotation and its implications did succeed in troubling her. Which brought Blake to wonder if, as she unyieldingly glared at her with that piercing red, the blonde found any satisfaction in the small vengeance of gouging her with it.

"Yang…  _please_  talk to me," she finally begged, at a loss with how else to get her to talk. She took a few steps closer and the other woman's brow twitched into a frown, but she didn't move otherwise. "I want to know what's on your mind, even if you think it'll hurt me— _especially_  if you think it will," she pled. After all, she  _knew_  whatever sincere words Yang would have to say would be painful. If they weren't, it would mean she was holding back her true thoughts and torment. "We  _can't_  leave things as they are! It's not just for my sake, it's obvious you're not okay either!"

Yang abruptly turned to face her fully. "And since when do you even  _care_  about how I feel anyways?"

More than taken aback, Blake blinked quickly in confusion; this one wasn't an accusation she'd been expecting. "What do you mea—"

"What are you trying to do, huh?" the blonde sharply cut in. "What do you want?"

At a complete loss, unable to grasp why she was questioning this, the faunus scrambled to articulate an answer. "I'm just— I'm trying to open the dialogue, tell you where I stand and—"

"How can you say all these things so lightly?" Yang accused with pained disbelief.

She had to pause as it seemed to all come together—the shape of her sorrow. Blake somehow slammed the brakes on her frenziedly overloading brain in an attempt to focus on what sentiment could be read through the way Yang chose to answer. Why was she dismissing Blake's words as nothing but sweet talking? Was Yang… doubting the authenticity of her feelings? Did she come to believe Blake had no investment in those feelings?

"Yang, I'm not saying any of it lightly," she very cautiously but very solemnly gave.

" _Right_ ," she shot. Her frown paired with the look in her eyes as they quickly scanned her up and down read blatant disbelief. Yang had lost so much faith in her, she couldn't even bring herself to trust the sentiment.

It was so unbelievably painful that, had Blake not been so prepared to be hurt, so resolved not to fall back on her old patterns, she might've crumbled and been defeated right then. She had to swallow down the lump of grief gagging her. "I don't blame you for not believing me," she conceded, though it was everything she could to keep her emotions under control, "but I hoped… you would at least see that I'm genuinely happy to be around you again," she quietly attempted. "Do you believe at least that…?"

Some of the hardness in the other woman's features melted to allow some the flicker of despairing yearning show through. "I don't know what to believe," Yang miserably admitted. "I mean, what do you want me to say?! After everything, I thought I could've counted on you for  _at least_  a little support but  _you_ , you just  _left_."

"I had to," she found herself saying. In spite of knowing  _he_  wasn't the entire reason, she'd nevertheless blurted this almost as an involuntary impulse.

There was a spark of incredulity in her expression. "You  _had_  to?"

Something flared inside of her, and Blake didn't know if she could quite call it hope because it truly was nothing but a dim glimmer of motivation, yet as she willed herself to bury the nagging reminder of her own role, her own part of culpability in all this to instead latch onto the thought that maybe, just  _maybe_ , if the way Weiss had reacted to learning what had gone down that night was any indication of how someone else might react, then the crimson color might dissolve from Yang's eyes were she to learn about this too. Before she could even make sense of how she wanted to relate his threats, Blake was already talking.

"He told me—before you got there, right before you did, he realized he… he—he had lost me completely. Adam was so furiou—" Blake abruptly stopped as the mention of his name had the other woman suddenly stiffen. In this short pause, Blake collected herself a little better. "He told me," she started again, more evenly, "he said he would destroy  _everything I loved_ , Yang…"

For a fleeting second, her eyes flickered back to violet as a heartbreakingly forlorn expression crossed her features. Blake had known very well her ex-lover had missed her, she also knew very well that the other woman was doing everything she could to put up a wall between them, everything she could not to get emotional, but this small crack allowed Blake a glimpse at the aching pain and longing the blonde was trying to push down and it made it so very hard to breathe.

"That's when you got there," the faunus continued. "I glanced at you…  _just a glance_! But it was enough and… he knew, so he… turned back to me and added… 'Starting with her'," she quoted in a whisper, earnestly searching her features.

Yang's thought process deconstructed itself on her face as she was evidently piecing everything together. She looked confused and incredulous and her red orbs fell to the floor, searching the wooden boards like she was reading the information she was given all over again. Her jaw in turn relaxed and tightened as the gears seemed to spin a million miles an hour in her head. She exhaled a shaky breath.

It looked to Blake like she just may come around. Incentive made her heart swell and her blood race even faster and she stepped closer. "He hurt you so much already, and he could've come back… would've done worse," she explained, anxious to see the other woman's features soften, desperate for red to irrevocably give way to that gentle violet color she loved so much. "I—I… I couldn't risk—I couldn't stay," she rationalized, "I left because of him."

Those last words unexpectedly sparked anger; her expression hardened in a split second and— "Bullshit."

Yang spat the word with such startling disdain that anything else Blake would've wanted to say went up in smoke. Before she could attempt to grasp why the other woman had responded this disconcertingly, the blonde continued.

"If that was it," Yang started again, "if you'd left because of him, to protect us—to protect  _me_ from him, then there's no reason you had to disappear in silence," she argued. "You could've told somebody. Or you could've waited for me to wake up to tell me you had to go, or just—just I don't know, tell someone,  _anyone_ ,  _something_ ," she countered.

Massively uneasy and completely destabilized, Blake was still trying to find her bearings after the shock of being shot down so brusquely. "I didn't want to be convinced to stay," she heard herself say; it felt mechanical, unconvincing, empty.

"You could've left  _something_ —a message! A fucking  _note_!" she heatedly argued. "Even just a few lines! Something!  _Anything_!"

Blake had no answer this time. She indisputably could have, and somehow only now did she realize she  _should_ have. She dropped her head in consternation with herself, her fingers were cold as they dug in her moist palms and the looming sensation of something just out of her grasp took over her. Why  _hadn't_ she taken the time to jot down even just a few words?

"You could've—" Yang attempted before giving up on her sentence. " _Anything_  would've been better than this," she agonizingly pled, designating their situation with a sweeping motion of her mechanical arm. Blake couldn't tell if she'd used it for even more emphasis, or if the prosthesis responded well enough that Yang instinctively used her right arm simply because it'd been her dominant arm.

"It didn't even need to be words," the blonde then added. "Even just… your ribbon.  _Something_  of you— _anything_ to let me know you cared, to let me know you didn't just… throw me aside," she managed, her voice unbelievably strained.

The way her own words had seemed hollow as she'd rationalized her actions to Weiss came to mind. She now couldn't help thinking that… maybe it'd felt this way because deep down she knew she didn't do things right as she left? Because she'd always known that her absence would make Yang feel this way, and she had no way of justifying  _the way_  she'd left? The way she'd left in silence, like a thief in the night… that'd made it look like she had simply run away…? And she hadn't simply  _ran_ … had she?

"I never wanted to make you feel like that," Blake whispered, not knowing what else she could say.

"Then  _why_? Without even a trace?" Yang pressed earnestly. Her eyes, still as piercingly red, searched Blake's golden as if desperately looking for another answer than the one she'd had months to mull over as she recovered from her injury. She didn't seem to find what she was looking for and the tension in her body at once released. She gave a silent, despondent sigh. "…All I needed was to feel like I'd get to see you again someday," she added in defeat.

"But I… I couldn't even promise that," Blake heard herself argue; it was like her body reacted without her willing it to make any sounds. Listening to herself, her words seemed to tear themselves apart as soon as she'd utter them; nothing she could muster seemed solid enough to hold any weight against how she'd abandoned her then lover. And at the back of her mind, she knew that the reason was simply that what she was offering wasn't the entire truth, yet she found herself stumbling into justifications anyways. "I couldn't endanger you more than I already had, and I didn't know if I'd ever be strong enough to defeat him. It was better if I wasn't around. I didn't know–"

"Fuck that!" she roared, abruptly silencing her staggered ex-partner. "You're stuttering excuses about protecting me –us, your team, your friends– and this being for the best, but you—" Yang's breath caught in her throat and she inhaled deeply in an apparent attempt to calm her nerves. She only opened her mouth again when she appeared to have taken hold of herself. "You went back to your parents!" she loudly reminded her. "Are you telling me it didn't matter if you put  _them_  in at risk?!"

"No," Blake immediately answered, her mind reeling. "That's…that's—just…" But she didn't know how to describe the gruesome and nightmarish days she'd spent fighting Grimm in Vale in a destructive attempt at 'redeeming' herself andthe subsequent internal revolution that had led her to head back home.

Yang scoffed with incredulous disdain. "Okay. So, tell me.  _Explain_. Why didn't you go to— I don't know, fucking  _Vacuo_ , where  _no one_  knew you?"

She wanted to tell her how hitting rock bottom,  _actual_  rock bottom, had her realize she had been letting herself fritter away and die in the ruins of their happy days, in ravaged, war-torn Vale. How it had left her no choice but to change. It had left her no choice but to find the strength she'd been lacking in all those moments she'd opted to run away. It had left her no choice but to resolve building herself back up, which could only be done right with going on a mission to right all her wrongs. A journey that  _had_  to start where she first went wrong. Finding herself,  _rebuilding herself…_  had to start back home.

But all this… even if she could  _somehow_  explain all this, even if she could somehow convey even  _a fraction_  of this… it held no weight against her original offence. It didn't make the way she left fair or acceptable, all it could do was serve to explain her subsequent decisions. Which would still leave a vast abyss in lieu of an explanation to excuse how she'd disappeared without a word. Or how, deep down…. Blake had told herself Yang  _should_  hate her for what had happened. And both these points… had nothing to do with Adam.

Doubts that had been festering inside herself started to bubble up again. The flash of heat that dizzied her didn't help with the chills running down her back. Her previous justifications that'd felt so dull and empty, like pre-rehearsed answers, crumbled inside herself and it brought her back to what she'd realized as she'd spoken with Weiss. That weakness of hers.

"His threat," Yang's voice drew her attention, "it's just a convenient excuse you've latched on to," she said, voicing something that Blake had done her best to avoid facing within herself until the prior evening. Her tone was calm but Yang's stare was a mix of betrayal and incredulity. "The  _real_  reason you ran, it wasn't keeping him away."

With this allegation, the faunus stood in silence, completely motionless. She had an impending suspicion of what Yang might've concluded her true motive might have been, as she'd ruminated over it all those months it must've taken for her to heal. The faunus stared back into those red eyes, dread gripping her frighteningly quickly as the awareness that the woman in front of her knew her  _so well_ … she'd known from the beginning what Blake had repressed from her own awareness—what she'd only recently started to recognize… what she hadn't been strong enough to accept she'd done.

This very moment, as Yang stared her down with disbelief and resentment, seconds from exposing her horrid truth, was when, in another life, she would've run. But she had resolved to stop running, hadn't she? And now, time was up. So, Blake stood grounded as she waited for the ugliness that had slumbered deep inside of her to be torn out and dragged into the light.

"It's so simple," Yang flatly said, shaking her head in an almost imperceptible movement. "You blame yourself for what happened, and you just felt too guilty, too  _ashamed_  to face me." The blonde inhaled quaveringly, as if to stay calm. " _That's_ why you couldn't even write me a couple of words, and that's… why you could be around other people but not  _me_ ," she rationalized, dejection saturating her tone. "You were just scared of facing me." The piercing red of her irises seemed to be dissolving into the white of her eyes as it and the skin of her face reddened with how she was starting to visibly struggle with holding back tears. "You know what that means?" she then murmured.

Blake didn't want it to be voiced.

"You didn't run to protect me," Yang nevertheless uttered, "you ran  _from_  me."

It felt like a Grimm mauled her stomach.

 _This_ … was what she hadn't been able to face inside herself. That night, as she'd left the blonde with their friends, Blake had managed to talk herself into believing that the best way -the only way- to protect her would be to lead Adam away from her. She had kept repeating this to herself, but... _honestly_...? Yang was absolutely right. Adam's threat had only allowed for a convenient excuse not to face the woman she loved after what she'd had to endure because of her. Because how could  _anyone_  bear looking in the eyes of the one they love above everything knowing that  _because of them_  that person had been hurt like never before? Knowing that because of them… their life is never going to be the same? And as if she didn't feel guilty enough... she knew Yang wouldn't have resented her, not one bit, even if it was unquestionably her fault.

Blake had been afraid of the way she'd look at her when she'd open her eyes, and now as golden orbs drifted back up to her, Yang stared back with a heartbreaking look of incredulous pain and it was worse than anything Blake had ever had to endure. In that moment she reflected to herself… had she been willing to admit to herself how scared she'd been to face Yang, had she been willing to admit to herself how  _terrified_  she was that Yang wouldn't be angry with her or resent her, when all she wanted was to be chastised, to be punished, when all she wanted was to suffer for the suffering she'd inflicted on the woman she loved… then she might've been able to resist the urge to flee. She might've been able to tear through what clouded her mind and see that leaving would not only worsen things for Yang, it would be even worse than anything that had happened until then.

Yang's eyes were filled to the brim with tears. "How could you run from  _me_?" The way her voice cracked fissured Blake's heart. "I never blamed you for what he did to me."

"…I deserve to be blamed. I deserve hate and anger, I—"

"I  _am_ angry with you."

"But not over your arm," Blake found herself retorting.

" _So!?_ " she exploded, finally breaking from her until then mostly collected demeanor. "What, you thought since I'd blame  _him_  for that, you should find a way for me to be angry at you too?!" She seethed as she motioned to herself, all red eyes and glowing hair. "Congrats!"

Her mind reeled and water clouded her vision. "No, Yang, I—"

" _You turned your back on me!_ " She accused, tearing into her feeble attempt at pleading a defense she had no argument for. "You blamed yourself and just couldn't handle that I wouldn't blame you too, so you  _ran_!— And from  _what_!? Not being made to feel like shit!?" She disbelievingly shot, driving in how appallingly diffident Blake's self-image had been. "Do you hate yourself  _so much_ that you can't stomach not being blamed!? Do you hate yourself so much that you were blinded by it  _this fucking bad_?! To the point you couldn't see that leaving me like that was the  _one_  thing—…. And you knew! You  _knew_  that was _one thing_  I— I— The one thingI couldn't take, and—and, and,  _still_ —" She had to stop, as her near-hyperventilating had her stumble into stuttering half-sentences, and she inhaled sharply. "That's so fucking messed up!"

Hearing it put in perspective so ruthlessly was nauseating. Mostly because in all its brutality, this assessment was appallingly spot-on, or at least, it had been… she truly  _had_  immeasurably loathed who she was.

Yang sniffed loudly; the way her bitterness had taken the better of her had obviously blurred her senses with emotion; it looked like it was everything she could to keep it in. "How do you expect me to  _ever_  trust you again, huh!? When you  _knowingly_ —… when you'd  _promised_ I could count on—…" she trailed off, her breath short and weak. The aggressive color of her eyes dissolved into violet as the same memory evidently passed through the both of them. The picture of them intimately standing together in their dorm room, clumsily trying to sort who they were to each other after Blake had finally confessed. "You had  _promised_ me!" she reminded her, Yang's expression contorting with genuine pain. "I'd have trusted you with my life, and I'd let myself… I-…I'd let myself need you... a-and I…. I…" In what seemed to be an intuitive motion, she pressed her hand over her heart.

Blake stared back at her with wide eyes, her accelerated heartbeat pounded through her body, pulsing in slow motion. This vulnerability Yang exhibited and what remained unspoken behind the words she chose, behind her body language had Blake so completely paralyzed, she didn't even dare inhale another breath.

Yang's fingers shakily dug into her chest, gathering the fabric of her orange top into a weak fist. The expectant air on Blake's features likely betrayed her having guessed what the blonde meant to say, and Yang's eyes, glassy and reddened, the violet color seemingly almost grey with the sorrow, stayed on hers. Something gave in her gaze and it appeared to Blake that the other woman was just so weary and… done. When she spoke again, it was to utter pained words that the faunus had given up on ever hearing. "I was in love with you," Yang finally said before she shakily exhaled something of a dry laugh. "God, I loved you so, so much…" she sniffed, the tears finally starting to get the better of her. "A-and you…"

 _Love_. The word resonated through her to nearly shatter her.  _Yang loved her back_. Of course, Blake had ventured to presume it might've been the case, but… after that fateful night, she hadn't dared hope for this word to  _ever_  pass her ex-partner's lips. But as the rush seemed to suffocate her even more, she realized…Yang said she'd loved her.  _Past tense_. And before she knew it, the tears Blake had managed to hold back through merciless denunciation and well-deserved accusations up until this point began streaking heavily down her cheeks. "...Love... _d_...?" She repeated in a whisper.

The red color flared to obliterate the violet again as Yang took an assertive step closer. "How are you surprised?!" she harshly cried out, misinterpreting Blake's question about whether it was still the case with her never having understood Yang had reciprocated her feelings. "Blake! Nothing mattered more than you!" She blurted in a sob. "I put you before  _Ruby_! I'd never chosen anyone over her before! And I— …I would've gladly given my  _life_  that day because for you, it was worth it," she unashamedly affirmed. " _Any_  cost was worth it to protect you. And  _you_ ," she stressed with contempt, anger flaring, "you couldn't even—" Her breath caught in her throat with the emotion, forcing her to stop. "You couldn't even—" In her agitation, she was unable to complete her thought. "Fuck—!"

Blake was quickly being engulfed with the sinking realization that… even if the team was working together, Yang may have been hurt enough for the pain to shatter her feelings. That, because Yang accepted to work together as team RWBY, because she had let herself get swept up in this conversation... didn't mean she'd ever trust Blake again, or that it'd revive what they had. It didn't even mean that Yang had any desire forgive and move past all that had happened; Yang may only be spilling her guts to her now because she needed closure, nothing more.

Letting her own tears dry on her cheeks unattended, Blake could only watch as the blonde paced back and forth as she ran both hands on her head through her golden hair to rest on the back of her neck; Yang didn't seem to know what to do with herself. It looked like she was doing everything she could to gather herself, to get herself under control again – to tamper any further outbursts or possibly even an ensuing meltdown. For the first time since Blake gotten to know her, being in her golden ex-partner's presence didn't help the shadows closing in around her. The midnight-haired faunus was gripped with a very specific sort of fear, one that was born out of helplessness and desperation. She couldn't stomach it.

The longer the silence stretched, the stronger the impression was that no part of what they had was recoverable, and so the urgent need to say more gripped Blake, just  _anything_  more to carry the conversation further, to maybe carry it past the pain and regret in hopes that they might be able to reach a place they'd find themselves talking about how to handle the future. "Yang, if I could go back, I'd—"

"But you can't," Yang cut in, wiping her nose as she regained some her composure. Red eyes slid down her shape, then back up once more to lock on her golden ones. "You left. Nothing can change that."

Her abrupt rejection was like a punch to the stomach and, though earlier she had wished for Yang to hurt her, to take retribution, to punish her, though she felt Yang's retort was entirely deserved, it nevertheless had nearly smashed her to pieces. The faunus strained to swallow it down and push forward, but no sound could make it past the rigidity of her throat.

Yang had an unamused, despairing sort of half-laugh. " _This_  is why I didn't want to talk," she pointed out. "I didn't want to get angry again. I didn't… want to feel all this again. I didn't want to get into  _this_  when we have so much on our plate in Atlas already," she mused dejectedly. The vividness of the red was dulled, but it hadn't turned back to violet still, and Blake wondered if Yang was saying all this in an attempt to convince herself, in an attempt to reason with herself enough to tamper what emotions she'd allowed to emerge. "We don't have energy to spare for things we can't do anything about. It would've been better to just burry everything."

It was beyond her power to stop herself; a pale, disbelieving scoff escaped her. "And be all fake smiles and walking on eggshells forever?" Blake pointed out. She couldn't even believe the other woman was proposing such an arrangement. "That wouldn't have worked for long."

"As opposed to tearing everything open when there's nothing that can be done to make it better, huh?"

The profound certainty, no— _knowledge_  that she was right at least with this, with forcing this conversation and carrying it through, imbued the faunus with boldness. "Making it better starts with acknowledging the pain, not burying it," she asserted.

"Burying it has always worked fine," Yang stubbornly muttered.

To which Blake frowned deeply. "Yeah, right. It hasn't worked any better than running away has."

Anger seemed to ignite her again in a jolt; her entire body tensed, and her red was explosively vivid. "Oh so, now that you're set on doing things differently, everyone should, right?"

"I'm just saying we couldn't have pretended!" Blake argued. "Things are  _not_ fine!"

" _Fucking right they're not_!" she screamed back.

A sudden silence followed in which they stared at each other.

Yang's entire demeanor softened, her eyes dropped to the ground in apparent dismay at her own outburst. She evidently hadn't wanted to own up to this. After all, doing so meant that ' _I'm fine_ ' and ' _I'm okay_ ' weren't viable answers anymore. This plain admission was one that implied that she was fully aware  _this_  needed to be taken care of, that it couldn't be buried the way she'd just claimed.

Blake was briefly thought back to what Weiss had said the evening prior. Something about how Yang refused to show her true face… something about how if she would end up showing it to anyone, it'd be Blake. In all this, though it seemed the blonde was still restraining herself, though it looked like more than once Yang had hit the brakes to contain the magnitude of what was weighing on her heart, it nevertheless felt like a victory that she was acknowledging the nature of her emotions.  _All_  of them. Her pain, her anger, that she was  _not_  fine… and even going as far as confessing having been in love.

How subdued and fragile the golden girl suddenly looked imbued Blake with terrible yearning. A yearning that drove her to want to keep moving forward so they might finally make it past the resentment… so maybe Yang would let her hold her. The dark haired faunus stepped closer. "...I know I let you down," she acknowledged in a whisper, to which the other woman's lips tightened. With her brow furrowed and with the way the usually so bright blonde seemed to be closing in on herself, Blake wondered if she'd be receptive to anything she'd say. Nevertheless, she made herself persevere. "Had you not intervened that night, I very much doubt I'd be standing here today," she reminded her. "And… I… you're right. I've hated myself. For what I brought upon you, for how I abandoned you," she admitted, knowing that conceding her own weakness, recognizing her partner's assessment had been impossibly accurate, was absolutely necessary in order to progress. "I've hated myself to the point I almost let myself be swallowed by it and by my regrets."

Those interminable nights fighting Grimm in the vestiges of Beacon Academy came to mind. The beasts were endlessly drawn to her, given how guilt, shame and self-loathing had been festering inside of her. And on nights she might have been able to rest, she'd instead lay awake, tormented that her ex-partner had to suffer so immeasurably because of her. On those nights, she'd been so consumed with hate and regret that she had genuinely wanted to die. Oh, never did the idea of doing the deed herself cross her mind, or rather… a coward like her couldn't realistically go through with suicide. No, instead she'd found herself unceasingly fantasizing about how easily she could slip and get butchered by Grimm; it'd obsessed her. It had only been when she'd reached her lowest point, that night she'd finally gone back to visit their dorm room, that night she'd finally hit rock bottom, it was only then that she'd been able to shake herself out of those morbid fantasies. It was only then, that she'd been able to remind herself how… her life had meant something to other people. And that even if she felt she'd been unworthy of their consideration, of their love and care, it didn't mean that things had to remain this way. As long as she was alive, it was never too late to make herself worthy of it, to make something out of the gifts and opportunities she'd been given, to make the people she loved and who'd given her so much proud. And she refused to let Yang's sacrifice be in vain.

Blake felt an urging impulse of motivation course through her again. "Yang, I—… I'm determined not to be that person anymore and I'm doing  _everything_  I can to face my fears and weaknesses and… make up for how I've been," she explained. Golden eyes were keenly observing the other woman… how she indubitably looked like with every second, with every word, she was retreating more and more into a shell. Like she was giving up on them. The anxiety that gripped Blake was sickening. "I'm here now. With you," she keenly pointed out. "And I won't walk away from what you have to say or how I hurt you," she added more quietly. They both knew there was a time Blake would have. "I'm done running."

Her red orbs snapped to her. "Is that a promise?" Yang wryly griped. "Because your promises don't seem to mean much."

This second rebuttal felt like a merciless stab. It cut much deeper than a red blade could have, and, unlike the scar left on her stomach, this wound was entirely deserved. Blake didn't know where she found the strength to swallow down a new wave of tears, but she did. Maybe it was plainly because crumbling was simply not an option. It just wasn't in. Because if she let the conversation end here, if she let Yang go ahead bury her anger and pain in spite of what had been said… then, something deep within her told her that Yang would also be burying  _them_  with it. That it would be over. That there would be no salvaging it.

"Take it as you will, but this is a promise I'm making to myself," Blake unsteadily answered, reminding herself that she'd already proven it to herself multiple times. Mending her relationship with her parents, taking a leading role in turning the White Fang around, saving Ilia…. facing Adam again. All these instances were concrete proof of the strength of her will, of having overcome her weakness. They were concrete proof that her words were  _not_  empty promises. She was done running, and she reminded it to herself again because she needed the strength. Her voice sounded dreadfully fragile as she forced herself to continue. "So, if you could just… just…  _please_  don't shut me out completely..." she implored, " _Please_ … watch me be better."

The blonde didn't answer this time. She didn't even glance at her.

Yang, standing only a few feet from her, seemed so awfully far away and it felt to Blake as if every second of silence was tearing them apart even more. Desperation seeped in her bones and Blake stepped even closer. "Yang…?" She gently called, attempting to at least draw her gaze. "Please… I'm really sorry…" she miserably tried, at loss with what else she could say, what else she could do.

"Yeah, you're sorry. You've said that already," she dryly, emotionlessly droned. "I don't even know why I'm still listening to you, I don't know," she added, quite obviously more to herself than to Blake. With this, the blonde pressed her hand to her face in an apparent effort to regroup, to take a hold of herself. It looked to Blake like the same motion someone would do to put on a mask. "It's not like I care anymore."

Every single fiber of her being  _screamed_  not to allow Yang to put on that mask again. "Of course, you care," the faunus heard herself counter without having taken the time to consider her words. Challenging her this defiantly probably wasn't the best idea, but Blake simply could  _not_  let her slip between her fingers, especially not on account of lies and pretenses. "You care," she repeated more forcefully, having somehow found some vigor. "About me. About  _us_. It's why you're so upset, and it's why we're here now."

At this, her expression disintegrated from controlled and scornful to positively  _furious_. It made it feel like the distance Yang had maintained between them in these last moments at once completely collapsed.

"Cause you're the fucking expert on how I feel, huh?!" The blonde retorted incredulously, incensed. "We wouldn't  _be_  where we are right now if you had even the slightest fucking  _clue_  how I feel!" With this, something abruptly hardened in her gaze and Yang brusquely disengaged the prosthesis from her right arm. "Look at this!" she exclaimed. The unnatural void on the right side of her body had Blake instinctively avert her eyes—she wasn't able to figure out if it was her own accountability or an inherent reaction to disfigurement before Yang's voice rose again. " _Look_!" she barked, forcefully drawing the golden eyes to her again. "I'm  _crippled_! Nothing's the same anymore! It's  _never_  going to be the same," Yang vented, brutally driving in the notion that what happened had radically and irreversibly changed her life.

"But you know what!?" she earnestly continued, barely pausing for an answer; Blake knew she wasn't expecting any. "Waking up, I felt like... ...like  _somehow_ , if we stayed strong, all of us, I could... I don't know! Just that it wasn't the end! That we could  _somehow_  make it okay and I wasn't gonna just… lie there and surrender," she explained, her voice distinctly tinted with yearning as she retold this. Her red eyes, until now glassy with her sorrow, cleared as the tears started rolling down her cheeks. "But you weren't there," she flatly stated, and her own words seemed to onset her anger again. " _You weren't there_!" She repeated much louder, having evidently given up on containing the storm inside her. "You  _chose_  not be there! What you felt for me wasn't enough to win over whatever fucking self-loathing or bullshit blame you put on yourself!" Yang furiously accused through her tears. "What we had wasn't enough that you'd —… it… wasn't enough to give you strength to—…" she trailed off, her struggling to simply breathe had her almost incapable of finishing her sentence. "It wasn't enough th-that—…" she strained, sobbing, "…I wasn't enough."

Blake pressed both her palms to her mouth, either in horror that Yang would ever think that, or to muffle her own crying, she didn't quite know.

It was only then that the blonde seemed to notice the tears that streaked her own cheeks and she made a futile attempt at wiping them away with her forearm. "You didn't have to  _do_  anything… just…  _be there_ ," she pitifully managed to articulate through her crying. "But I… I—I didn't matter enough that you'd find some strength t-to…–While to  _me_ , losing  _you_..." she exhaled in a harsh pant. Her voice had died in her throat again as she evidently struggled with both the notion she was trying to convey and her uncontrolled sobbing. "To  _me_ , losing you… it felt even  _more_  like losing a part of myself than this," she confessed, raising her stump to designate her maiming. Admitting to this had her oscillate again towards anger and her brow contorted in a mix of agony and irritation. Her wrathful red orbs seemed to flare with the ever-increasing hurricane of different emotions subjugating her. "Losing  _you_ , Blake—" she was forced to stop mid-sentence as another sob caught in her throat, which appeared to make her even more aggravated with herself. "Do you even realize?!" she cried out. "It was easier for me to lose my fucking  _arm_  than to lose you!" Yang spat this confession like it was an accusation. "And I  _hate_  that!" The aggrieved red pierced into Blake, but the tears weren't stopping, and Yang's unreeling mess of feelings quickly kept pouring out. "And I hate that I  _still_  wished you were there every single fucking time I woke up," she added, pressing her one hand to her face. She'd evidently lost control of what she meant to keep for herself versus what passed her lips. "And I hate not being angrier with you—ugh!" Her fingers curled a bit over her face, her bangs getting caught up between them. "I hate how fucking  _happy_  I was to see you!"

As Yang sobbed, spewing in anger the last remnant of what she'd kept bottled up until now, the last of what she needed out to be able to heal... Blake was very aware of what the blonde was  _truly_  saying.

_'You're more a part of me than my own flesh. I missed you. I'm happy to see you.'_

"And I hate how," Yang had to inhale abruptly, swallowing another sob. "I hate how, in spite of all this fucking mess, you're  _still_  all that matters," she finished, almost choking on her tears.

' _I still love you._ '

Having all but given up keeping any semblance of composure, the blonde then brought what remained of her right arm over her face, over her left hand she was already crying uncontrollably into.

How utterly ripped and torn by emotion Blake felt was indescribable. The guilt, the shame, and the remorse over how badly she'd hurt her… and yet… nevertheless, Yang  _still_  felt something for her, and that brought inconceivable happiness and bottomless yearning that brought a debilitating surge of hopefulness and with it the overwhelming  _need_  to hold her. It wasn't like she could bear watching her fall apart anyways and, though she knew she had no right to, though she believed it'd be more than deserved were Yang to violently reject her touch, she still dared stepping up to her. The warmth emanating from her body and the smell of her, of her hair, had Blake's heart pulse in her throat. Her stomach was sickeningly tight only from standing a few steps from her, from the thought of chancing holding her.

As one hand slowly grazed the orange fabric of the other woman's top to find her waist, Blake delicately laid her other one to her ex-partner's left arm. It was a tremendous relief that Yang let herself be touched and it encouraged the faunus to dare further. She gently tugged on her arm to guide it away from the blonde's face, away from the way it had almost served as a barrier between their bodies, as she slowly moved closer, very slowly closing in to embrace her.

Yang collapsed around her all at once. Blake couldn't tell if the other woman was crushing her into a hug or if she was holding onto her, so she didn't crumple to the ground, but, all the same, they were in each other's arms and Blake clutched her like allowing any distance between them meant leaving her again. Burying her face in the golden locks somehow magnified the already debilitating powerful feelings that'd overtaken her. And additionally now, her love, how  _right_  it felt to feel her body against hers, brought with it an immediate flood of memories and the visceral  _need_  to touch her lips to her skin, to kiss her pain away, to love her–… Blake managed to resist everything. She had no right to any of it anymore.

"I'm so sorry," she croaked once more, "I should have been there for you." Her hand buried in the golden locks carefully held her head to her shoulder and Yang pressed her face to her neck, wetting it with tears. The faunus did the very best to swallow her own and keep talking. "I convinced myself you couldn't possibly still want me around after how you got hurt because of me, that I was doing the right thing… but… you're right, I was afraid," she admitted. She pressed her cheek to the side of her head, into messy blonde curls. "You being angry at me scared me," she breathed in a whisper, "but you  _not_  being angry at me  _terrified_  me," she added with a sob, "because I didn't believe I deserved your kindness."

In response, the other woman gripped her even closer. "I  _needed_ you," she breathed shakily, tears unrelenting.

"I know," she acknowledged in a whisper, guilt suffocating her. Her ex-partner's body was violently racked by her sobbing, and Blake shut her eyes tightly. The raw emotion that lingered, along with all her regrets flooded her at once. She knew very well she couldn't in all fairness tell her how much she loved her the same as she couldn't take back the horrible decision she'd made… but she nevertheless needed to say her peace.

"Yang," she called in no more than a whisper. "I need you to know… I'm  _eternally_  grateful and I know I'm forever indebted to you," she tenderly murmured in her hair. "You saved me. More times than you know," she admitted, her gaze drifting to the discarded prosthetic limb. "That night, but also with every caring word you've said to me, every time you held me after a nightmare, every one of those innumerable times you've been patient, compassionate and… loving with me." Blake ran both hands down her back and Yang gasped quietly. "So please…  _please_ don't think you weren't enough. You were more than I could ever have dreamed," she whispered, daring to brush her lips to her ear as she gently laid a kiss on her head. "I simply didn't know how to accept your kindness then, I didn't think I was worthy of it."

The blonde hung onto her and her shaking, quivering body only reminded Blake that no matter how strong her ex-partner was, no matter her semblance, she truly wasn't was impervious to pain as she wanted everyone else to think, and in that moment… Yang genuinely felt incredibly fragile in her arms. Blake's determination ardently re-ignited deep within herself and she clutched desperately closer. "I  _know_  I don't deserve forgiveness or another chance," she whispered, "and I'm not brazen or shameless enough to ask for any of it, but… …I won't let myself fail you again, I promise."

Yang seemed for a second to want to answer her, but she gave up before even attempting. She leaned heavily onto her, and the dark haired faunus realized that the emotion, her tears, all of it, had exhausted her to a point her ex-partner couldn't even stand by herself. So, Blake sat them on the bed, and Yang immediately curled over herself, forehead to her knees, still hiccupping from her uninhibited crying. Blake sat very close, thigh to thigh, and remained silent, slowly rubbing her back. Every interminable minute of listening to her multiplied Blake's resolve be stronger for her sake.

Eventually, the blonde cried herself to exhaustion; her head leaned limply into Blake's lap instead of how she'd been folded over herself. Blake sniffed, slowly combing the golden locks with her fingers, observing her ex-partner's crumpled form as she'd passed out in her curled-up position. Not wanting to disturb or wake her, it took her a while to decide to drag her as carefully as she could into the bed to a normal sleeping position. She pulled Yang's boots off her and managed to drape the bedcovers over her to tuck her in. A year ago, she wouldn't have hesitated before stripping her of any other item that would be uncomfortable to sleep in, but in that moment, she felt it would be intrusive to undress her beyond this point.

Blake then sat on the edge of her bed in silence, gaze riveted on her silhouette, relishing in simply… being able to be with her. Yang's eyes were puffy and red from the tears, and her golden hair was an absolute mess, and Blake couldn't remember a time when she had felt so blessed to be able to enjoy the sight of her. She still couldn't believe they'd run into each other this way on another continent – fated…  _soulmates,_  came to mind again. All of it was so incredibly surreal and Blake couldn't wrap her mind around it, but the undeniable fact was that they were there. Yang was there. Yang was sleeping just there, and she was real, and Blake could touch her. As if she'd needed to make sure, she had the compulsion to lay her hand on her upper arm, which leisurely rose and fell with her slow breathing. And Blake realized she couldn't bring herself to step away from her, not even to go tell her awaiting teammate whether or not the situation was mendable now that they'd talked. Because not only did it feel wrong to be away from her, but what if it woke her up were she to open the door and exit the room, if only for a few minutes? The idea that Yang might wake up to an empty room again, that Yang might open her eyes to find herself alone, for her to think for even  _a second_  that Blake had left again, was one she simply couldn't stomach. And so, after well over an hour of sitting there in silence, she eventually found herself lying down next to her. Blake laid above the bedcovers, still fully dressed, not being as presumptuous as to assume it would be okay to get any closer or get comfortable. She was amply satisfied with being able to see her. With just being with her.  


**tbc**  



End file.
